Warped Reality
by Seraph Reaver
Summary: We've all thought of it and read the fics. But what would happen if you wound up in the world of your favorite characters? Would your welcome be warm or cold if it was thought that what you knew could cause trouble. Just who would side with you?
1. Chapter 1

I don't know what possessed me to do this, I'm normally not one to do a self insertion deal. Yet, I thought it would be interesting to try anyway, and I wanted to honestly show how I would handle (or how I think I would handle) such a thing. It's done mainly as a flip between first person and third point of view.

Hey, everyone has either written one themselves or at least daydreamed about it happening, so I figured why not? Though I'm hoping I end up with one slightly different than anyone else's.

Yes since this is supposed to be from my account I end up being the main character. But let's hope I didn't derail things too much.

I tried to keep that Mary Jane thing or whatever it's called out of this. But I think I ended up doing a bit of that, though I hope it's not -that- bad and I found a way to save my ass.

Seeing as how my knowledge of Yu-Gi-Oh is limited, I'm gonna say this is an AU to save my butt, that way I don't get a million complaints about not writing someone correctly.

Oh yes, and Yu-Gi-Oh! characters and everything related is (c) Kazuki Takahashi

* * *

_Let's see, where do I start? Well first of all I've always been one for an impressive imagination and ideas for artwork or stories up the yin yang. This naturally made me a somewhat powerful and strange dreamer. We've all had those dreams that are so real we think it is real? Or how about an event that is just so horrible and/or odd that you think it must be a dream? I can't tell you how many times I've been in both situations. Well, the dream so real thing happens most of the time. I've had these waking dreams, scare the crap out of me. I'm twenty one and I still get horrible nightmares. Aren't I lucky? Sheesh, well, this isn't supposed to center on my dreams. Not totally, at least. Rather, something that I still can't figure out if it was a dream or what. Things that ended the event make me think it was real, yet, some things don't add up right and fit into place, so maybe it was a dream. I don't know, all I know is it's driving me nuts trying to figure out what did happen._

My name is Sarah, I'm the average woman, I suppose. Finished high school with flying colors blah-blah-blah. Got to an art college to study animation, dropped out with a near heart attack. Moved the three hundred some odd miles back home where I just... lived. I lost myself, my college experience was just horrible and I'm still reeling from it. I'm being pressured to do something_, but what I don't know. I'm just here, don't know where to go or what to do. So, having so much time on my hands I began to create things. My nightmares and dreams became so vivid and full of... plot. It was amazing what my subconscious mind would cook up at night. It was like watching a movie. Well, a movie that had quite a bit of bugs, but more elaborate than dreams I'd had in my childhood._

But this isn't about a dream. Well, to the best of my knowledge it isn't. What it was, well I don't know. I just know it happened.

Damn, I was uncomfortable. I knew right off I wasn't in bed, it was too hard. Oh god, I was sleep walking again, wasn't I? But, I was scared to open my eyes. Why? Well, I was outside_. My back was on a brick wall and I was sitting on the sidewalk or something. How embarrassing, I was somewhere in my night gown and... boots? Wait, I've done some weird stuff when I would sleep walk but putting my boots on was not one of them. Slowly, I opened my eyes. Well, the boots were on right, I had jeans on, a T-shirt and, wait, I can see clearly... my contacts? Ok, yeah, I have put my glasses on before; and waking up because your face hurts isn't fun. Glasses had that effect, trying to lay face down on the pillow and all. But my contacts? How...? I mean, I can't put them in when I first wake up. I'm too clumsy. That wasn't the worst of my worries, not only am I fully dressed, but I have all my jewelry on and my wallet with me. A quick check of my pockets showed me I had my keys, mirror, contact case and brush. Never leave the house without this. My sunglasses were on my head as well, this has gone from odd to scary as hell. I'm too hung up on how I'm dressed as if I was going out, then it hits me: where am I? In an ally, but, there are no allies where I live. It's a small town, big open spaces with enough rooms between buildings for another building. I feel so stupid, I must have got on a bus or something. Or I was sleepwalking and someone picked me up. Oh god, what if...? No, couldn't be. If so I wouldn't have been so clean. I know I went to sleep in my bed, I never leave the house. Only rarely on weekends. This made no sense. Ok, maybe I should stop worrying about how I got here and worry about where here was. It's early morning, I think. The air smells fresh and cool still, the sun is low. There's a slightly different glow in dawn then there is in dusk, but I can't really tell as I have no idea where I am. I think it's dawn, I think. Sun seems to be getting higher. Wow, look at that. I'm awake at dawn, this is new. I'm a night owl, up all night and sleep till late afternoon. Wonder where I'm going to eat. Wait, why am I worried about that? Still don't know where I am, gah, it's a dream. That's the only reason why I'm worried about food suddenly. So it's a dream, I can walk up to any place and they'll magically have food. And for free, or for some odd price of hoping around on one foot with a paper bag on my head. I straighten my shoulders and stroll out of the ally-way. Hrm, I can walk. So this isn't one of those dreams where I'm stuck on knees, hand and knees or I hover everywhere. However, once out I notice something else. I can't read the signs. They say you can't read in dreams, but I was always able to. As long as stuff was in English. This is, something. One of those weird symbol writings I'd see in the Asian district back at home. They all looked the same to me, but apparently there were... some big number of writings that are about the same. I have no idea what I'm looking at though, do I care? Well I will if I start talking to persons and I can't understand them._

The street is somewhat narrow and surprisingly empty from traffic. There are plenty of pedestrians. All the guys and girls are dressed the same, and fairly young too. I'm assuming they're school bound. Uniforms were in scattered schools in my area, but none like this. I had seen these before, the guys in blue suits and the girls in skirts that I wouldn't be caught dead in. I got a few odd looks, yeah I'm out of place. Go me. Got that whole, I guess it was a skater look or something. Black shirt with a bronze dragon in the center and baggy jeans. Had two wallet chains on the right side, one down past my knee and the other just above it. You'd think I'd shorten that long one, sometimes when I'd kneel down it would go over my knee and trip me up. Rarely it would get caught on the heel of my boots. I pulled my sunglasses down over my eyes, I didn't feel like having these people know I was watching them. Hmm, I must look really weird. I'm a pale thing, and here I am in such dark colors. I'm not goth or anything, I don't place myself in any social ranks. I'm just me, dressing how I like. I had dyed my blonde hair black, but over the course of a year it faded and began to grow out. My blonde color ends at my cheek bones, the reddish browns of the rest of it reaches down to just above my bum. It wasn't my hair that brought the stares, some persons had much wilder colors and styles. One in particular caught my eye. I stopped dead in my tracks as the short boy passed me, he didn't even look up as he walked. He seemed totally intent on whatever it was he was carrying. Looked like school papers. But, his hair. Blonde bangs, the yellow strands like lightening framed his soft features nicely. The rest of his hair stood up in large spikes, reminded me of a star almost, only had more branches. The black of it faded into red at his tips. Tri color hair, short in stature and I swore I saw a gold trinket hanging around his neck. I couldn't see his eyes as they were downcast, but I knew for sure who he was, Yugi Mutou. What's more is I saw where he came from, it was just a few buildings ahead of me. Oh god, I sound like a stalker or something. But you know what? This is a dream so it doesn't matter. I can stroll into his grandpa's game shop and everything will be cool. He'll know me somehow. This idea was put on hold when I saw the shop wasn't open yet. Well that was new, oh well. I have time. So I sat down, right outside the door. Pulled my knees up into my chest and rested my chin on my arms. Thankfully the steady stream of school-goers had thinned and was on the other side of the street, away from me. Bet they'd think I was bum. Do I care? No, never have and I bet I never will. That's just how I am. I hadn't been there too long when the door opened, heard a slight jingle from a bell on it, I think. I didn't turn right away, wanted to make sure the person saw me so they would start any conversation. That was another thing about me, too damn shy for my own good. I could never spark up conversation and it took forever before I felt ready to add to one with a stranger. However, I was determined to answer fairly quickly this time. I was hoping I'd get some help, so being friendly would be in my best interest. Everything was going great, until the person spoke. Yep, couldn't understand him. Looked up, it was Yugi's grandfather alright. Short, unique hair style and eyes. Well, good lot of help I'll get if no one speaks English. All the persons who I waved off when they would use Japanese would die laughing if they could see me now.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand you." The young woman bit her lip as she looked up to the old man. He paused for a moment and tilted his head to the side.

"Are you lost? It's very rare to find an English only speaking person around here," he replied in a thick accent.

"You can speak English?" she blinked. "Of course, most places do have English as a second language, a regular part of schools," she shook her head.

"I traveled a lot, it was in my best interests to learn a few different languages," the man replied. "But English isn't required in schools, it's an extra course. Please, come inside for a bit and I'll see what I can do for you." He offered her a helping hand, but she declined and got on her feet herself. He ushered her into the shop and closed the door behind them.

"What's your name if you don't mind?" he inquired as he walked past her.

"Sarah," she replied. "What may I call you?"

"You prefer using a first name or sir name?"

"Sir name, I only use first name on those close to my age and younger," she cringed a bit, hoping that wasn't too rude a comment.

"You may call me Mutou, then," he said with a smile.

_Yeah, I knew his name. But, I wasn't about to let him know that. I don't think it would be right if I came in knowing his name when I was obviously from far away. So that settled it, I was going to ride this whole thing out and act like I knew nothing. Hopefully I would wake up soon, this was a dream and I didn't want to blow it and turn it into a nightmare. I took to idly browsing the items in the shop, picked up something that caught my attention. The Duel Monsters game, called simply Yu-Gi-Oh in the States, and I think it might have had a different name here. I don't know, all I know about Yugi and co. came from the dubbed animated series._

"Are you interested in that game? My grandson Yugi and his friends all enjoy it." Mr. Mutou announced from behind the sales counter.

"I've seen it before, never played before. Nor do I know too much." That was a lie, she knew about it but was sure it was different than what she was used to, so ignorance was the key.

"Art catch your eye, then? You seem to be an artistic person," he chuckled.

"How did you know?" she wrinkled her nose as she placed the cards back from where they came.

"You're young, fresh out of school I'd assume. Call it a gift, just something about you gave me that impression. But tell me, how did you get lost?"

_Oh great, you know, somehow I was hoping to avoid this. I wanted to just make up something because the truth didn't seem that logical to even me. But what could I say?_

"I don't know," she replied at length. "I just kind of, woke up in an ally. I have no idea how I got there. I thought I was at home, in my own bed. I sleep walk, but..." she trailed off. Mr. Mutou cocked a brow as he listened.

"You're not a drinker or into drugs, are you?" he asked in a rather flat tone.

"NO! No, I'm not. My younger brother is but I'm not. I... I don't know. It's just, weird," she sighed in a defeated manor.

"Well, where did you come from, perhaps I can point you in the right direction."

"From Texas," she said plainly as she made eye contact.

"Child, I'm afraid you are far from Texas at the moment, you aren't even in the right country," he said, more than a little confused. "I should have guessed with your light southern drawl, are you on a trip or such?" Sarah shook her head and cast her eyes down to the floor.

"Oh dear, this is quite the situation."

"Tell me about it, I'm lost, don't know how I got here or how I'll get back."

"We'll figure out something, don't worry," he said with a smile. "If you don't mind staying around here for the day once my grandson returns from school we'll see about figuring out how you got here. In fact, I think I could call the airport and see if any planes flew in from the States recently," he said as he reached for the phone.

"No, I doubt I came in that way. You know, tickets and security and all. Look at me, do you think I could easily get passed security?" She pointed to her wallet chains, necklace and bracelets as well as rings. Every single last one of the items was metal, be it gold, silver or plain metal.

"I suppose not. Hmm, I'm thinking something else is going on. In that case calling about won't turn up anything. No matter, we'll figure it out. Would you care for something to eat or drink? I could take you up to the living quarters and get you settled in for the day."

"I'd hate to intrude..."

"Oh don't be silly, I've traveled before and have felt the same, for once I can give and feel balanced."

"Alright, I guess. But really, I feel odd. I don't know you, you don't know me..."

"We have a day to talk and get acquainted."

_Wow, this is a slow dream. No jumping around, so I get to go through a whole day, time won't magically speed up? Boring dream. Oh well, better than a nightmare at least. I almost tripped over the top step and slammed into Mr. Mutou, must watch where I'm walking and not get lost in my thoughts. He opened the door at the top and ushered me into the room. It wasn't furnished like what I was used to. Fairly bare, I suppose it was because the place was inhabited by just Mr. Mutou and Yugi. No one else to add other things to it, just what was needed. It was small, I could see this by the shop below. A living room, kitchen, single bathroom and what I assumed were two bedrooms made up the living area. It was home to them, and worked. It was cozy and quaint. Though personally I couldn't stand the bare walls. My own room had artwork and posters all over the place. Even ceiling. I'd be back to that soon enough, so I could easily ignore the emptiness here. I paused at the door when I saw Mr. Mutou slide his shoes off. Guess I should remove my boots. I so hope I won't be going back and forth from here to elsewhere. I had to lace up my boots, couldn't just slide them on and off. I set them beside the door before padding over the carpet and sitting on the couch he motioned to. Wonder how I was going to end up spending the day, and why he was being so nice if he knew I hadn't come in through normal travel. Did he perhaps know more than he let on...?_

"What would you like to drink?" he asked again.

"Oh! Sorry, um water is fine with me," Sarah answered as Mr. Mutou filled the glass.

"I trust you'll be alright if I leave you up here for most of the day?" he inquired as he handed her the glass.

"Thank you. I should be, if I can keep myself busy with something," she replied as she took the glass.

"Paper and pencils are a start. I doubt television will do if you can't understand the main language spoken here."

"I'll probably watch anyway, sometimes it's really amusing to watch when you can't understand what is being said. But paper and pencil would be nice. I could doodle if all else fails," she shrugged.

"I'll see what we have, and after that if you need me I'll be downstairs. Oh, I almost forgot. If you get hungry help yourself to what we have."

_Free range, huh? That means I should be extra careful, I'm not doing something that will put me on a guilt trip or something. I get to entertain myself for a full day, this should be fun. Hm, if there was such a thing as a sarcasm meter I bet that comment would have blown it up. And if I'm still around when Yugi gets home, won't that be interesting. As long as I don't develop a fan-girl attitude, I should be fine. Must act like I don't know him either. Now, onto the most important question of the moment, what do I draw?_

At some point in the morning I ended up falling asleep on the couch, had the crap scared out of me when Mr. Mutou woke me up. He apologized a couple hundred times then offered to take me to lunch. I tried to talk him out of it, but he insisted. Guess the old guy got lonely during the day without Yugi around. I know the shop was fairly active, had heard folks trickle in and out before I fell asleep. I asked about the shop and he chuckled before telling me that being the owner and the only present worker, he could close it down when he wished. Now was just for lunch, and he insisted I join him. Said I could see a bit of the city, might help me remember how I got there. You know, that got me thinking. I bet he's relating this all to some weird case of amnesia. I guess that works. Ah well, lunch was interesting. The area was a bit of a culture shock, then again you travel from one part of the States to another and you get a mild one. Got one when I traveled up north to see my boyfriend. This was bigger, however, being in a whole other country and all. I had no idea if the prices I saw on things were good or not, exchange rates were lost on me. I was ever so thankful to have Mr. Mutou there to translate and speak for me, I felt like, well, like such a tourist. We got back to the game shop and I decided to sit with him at the sales counter as I absently drew dragons. Not my first choice of subjects, but I really didn't feel like drawing any of my characters and explaining them. After a while, Mr. Mutou brought out a few cards with dragons on them. He wondered if I would be willing to draw them, he'd love to hang them up on the walls in the store. I so wished I had my colored pencils, those expensive kind that look like paint when used kind. Not watercolor, a thick rich lead with wax in it. Oh well, perhaps color would only give him the idea I could render things fully and I'd get stuck drawing a lot. He was nice and all, but I don't think I like the idea. I watched customers come and go, was told I had compliments on my drawings, couldn't understand a word folks said so I just took Mr. Mutou's word for it.

"Yugi will be home shortly. He doesn't really speak English, a few words but you won't be able to carry on a conversation with him," Mr. Mutou stated once the latest customer had departed, they were in a school uniform and had a bike waiting outside; so school was out and it was just a matter of time before his grandson would walk in.

"That's alright," Sarah waved. "As you know by now I'm not really talkative myself."

Mr. Mutou chuckled and shook his head. "Yugi can be a regular chatterbox, he'll be disappointed to not be able to understand you. I'm sure he'll enjoy your art and will want to talk about it. Oh, and he always brings a few friends with him. Anzu, Honda and Jounouchi."

"I can pronounce the first two, but as for the third, eh, that won't be so easy."

_I knew the three as Téa, Tristan and Joey. The overwhelming urge to just use Joey instead of the long name which I would horribly mangle wouldn't be ignored. Well, I was pretty sure I could handle Jou, but would he allow such a shorthand version? Guess I'd find out. Mr. Mutou was right, it couldn't have been more than fifteen minutes since he said Yugi would return. The short teen was in front, he gave me a funny look as he noticed I was behind the counter and his grandfather was nowhere around. I felt extremely awkward and shuffled off to the store room behind me and told Mr. Mutou they had company._

The old man's face lit up as he emerged from the backroom and greeted the four teens, Sarah stood awkwardly at the door, leaning on it's frame. She knew the conversation had turned to her when she picked her name up. Honda tilted his head to the side as he regarded the pale woman as Jou pointed to her chains and said something to the others, it elicited a harsh glare from Mr. Mutou and a slight chuckle from Anzu.

"Sarah," Mr. Mutou announced as he turned around. "This is my grandson Yugi," he smiled as he motioned to the boy. Yugi smiled warmly and offered his hand, Sarah hesitated then took it. The youth shook it and cheerfully said something Sarah couldn't understand. "This is Anzu Mazaki, Hiroto Honda and Katsuya Jounouchi," Mr. Mutou said as he pointed to each person. She got a nod from Honda and Jou only cocked his head to the side. Anzu had a totally different reaction, however.

"So you speak only English?" the brunette asked the young woman.

"Yeah," Sarah blinked, Anzu had taken her by surprise.

"I'm hoping to go to New York to study dance, so I've been studying English to better fit in," she smiled.

"Oh, thank you. I don't feel so out of place now that two can understand me," Sarah replied.

"Plus, it's really fun to make the others think you're talking about them when you aren't," Anzu giggled as she pointed to Jou, Sarah laughed as well. Jou didn't find it funny and began to raise his voice, Sarah took it that he was demanding to know what had been said.

A surprised expression from behind her made Sarah turn. Yugi was holding up the drawings, he pointed to the ones that had been based on images from the cards. It sounded like a question, and when Mr. Mutou answered and pointed to Sarah, she knew just what had been said. She quickly tucked the pencil into her pocket, not quite sure she wanted to be caught "red handed." Yugi passed the paper along to the others who all looked back up at Sarah.

"Have you thought of going into art?" Anzu asked as she got her hands on a Blue Eyes White Dragon picture.

"I was going to be an animator, but I dropped out when the program moved too fast and was too stressful. Was a two year program for computer animation. The weight of everything really took it's toll on me, I had a nervous breakdown and a near heart attack, so I moved back home," Sarah shrugged. She'd told the story many times before, at first it had been hard. But eventually she got over it.

"Oh, I'm sorry. What do you do now?" the brunette asked as she collected the other drawings and looked before handing them to Sarah.

"I... do nothing. I'm lost," she bit her lip.

"It just takes time, don't worry," Mr. Mutou spoke as Anzu nodded her agreement. A cough from Honda reminded them that there were three other persons around who couldn't understand a thing.

"One more thing, where are you from? Your accent sounds familiar," the girl asked.

"Texas, central part," Sarah replied.

"Oh dear, don't let Jounouchi know or he'll harass you with stereotypical southwest expressions. It's about all the English he knows. Bet he doesn't know what they mean either."

"I do say y'all a lot, but that's about it," Sarah admitted. That go Jou's attention, suddenly he grabbed the young woman's hands and said the one thing Sarah wanted to hit him for.

"Howdy, pardner!" the blonde boy said with a huge grin. He let her hands go and laughed hysterically, a slap to the chest from Anzu shut him up though.

"Told you so."

"Guess I got myself into that one."

_Oh, I so hope he's not going to be doing that a lot. Otherwise I'll walk my happy ass out the door and just walk. Don't know where, but I'll do it. Maybe I'll pop him one first, I don't know. I just hate the stereotypical things. So help me, he pulls out a cowboy hat I'll ram the damn thing over his head and eyes. As long as he didn't tease me about where I was from, he was fine by me. A tugging on my short sleeve got my attention. It was Yugi, he pointed to his favorite card, the Dark Magician and then held up a piece of paper. I knew where this was going, and those big violet eyes wouldn't let me say no. Sure enough, Mr. Mutou confirmed what I had been thinking. I accepted and prepared to be asked to draw everyone's favorite card. Yugi eagerly lead me and the others up to the living quarters. While they all got books out for homework, I got started on the picture Yugi had requested. His card had shown a good deal of wear on it, I bet others in his deck looked the same. It was only the edges that were worn, everything else was perfect. Yugi insisted on hovering over my shoulder half the time to watch. Oh I hate that, but I always try not to say anything. Unless it's family, then I bop em with the pencil and turn around. But wait, didn't Yugi have homework to do? I turned around and pointed to the book he had abandoned, the boy gave a sheepish look and toddled back over to where his friends sat. Jou made a comment which got a snicker from Honda and a puzzled look from Anzu. I assumed Jou was making some childish comment and paid it no mind._


	2. Chapter 2

If you made it this far, either you haven't been bored to tears or I've managed to not turn you away by putting myself in as a character. Either way, thanks ;D

Yu-Gi-Oh! characters and everything related is (c) Kazuki Takahashi and not me. But I belong to me, naturally ;D

* * *

"Mr. Mutou," Sarah began as she looked out the window at the quickly setting sun.

"Hmm?" he asked as he slipped into the kitchen chair opposite of her.

"What am I supposed to do tonight?" she asked as she swirled the tea around in her cup.

"Anzu's offered to ask her parents if you would be permitted to stay for a while. You'll be under the guise of a visitor from America that took the time to speak to her English class about things. Your accommodations while visiting had fallen through and Anzu said she would see if you would be allowed to house with them for a while. Her parents are fairly allowing on this, and as long as you remain well mannered they won't give you any problems. I'd offer to have you stay here, but I'm afraid we really don't have anything that you might need while Anzu would."

_Good, while I did enjoy meeting Yugi and his grandfather I couldn't just stay there. I had so many worries, for instance what was I supposed to wear? I had no change of clothing. On top of that I had no items for personal care beside the brush I carried with me. Anzu and the other two had departed a while ago, Yugi was currently in the shop doing some cleaning before he would return to the living quarters. I had offered to help as I felt bad about doing nothing, but Mr. Mutou insisted I just relax. At this point I knew this wasn't a dream, and things were beginning to crash down on me. That was part of the reason I had been given the tea, it was an herbal blend that was supposed to relax me. It did somewhat, but my mind was still racing at a million miles a minute. I was lost, I was really lost. I had no family, nothing other than what I was wearing and hardly anyone could understand me. I sighed loudly as I lay my head on the table. Though I couldn't see it, I felt Mr. Mutou frown a bit. He must have a inkling of how I feel, so alone and confused. You'd think I'd be overjoyed about all this, but I wasn't. I had no idea how I got here or how to get back, if I knew that then maybe I could enjoy myself a little more._

Yugi called up the stairs before his footfalls raced up them, another set followed behind him slower. Sarah lifted her head to see Yugi and Anzu step into the kitchen, they both had a worried look when they saw her. Mr. Mutou said something and the two nodded.

"Well, my parents will let you stay. You've got a week. And as for the issue on why you have no bags with belongings. Don't worry, I'm willing to use my paycheck for this week to get you some things to use. Including clothing, I'm hoping you don't have expensive tastes," the brunette said.

"Well, I don't think I do, I don't know what counts as expensive here, though."

"Don't worry, I'll let you know. Now, we have to hurry of you want to get some things tonight, before stores close."

_Shopping, joy. Oh well, this was the one time I really had to do it. I never was one for shopping, and I got the feeling Anzu believed I was a shopping fanatic, wonder if that was the stereotypical view of Americans or if women everywhere just enjoyed it. Yugi tagged along, Anzu would translate for the both of us when we would try to talk. Yugi loved the picture I had done and was wanting to see what else I could do. Perhaps while I was staying with Anzu I could pump out some images of regular subjects to me. I got to seem more of the city, and at night too. Too bad I wouldn't recognize anything during the day, oh well. Hopefully I wouldn't be around too long. Anzu and Yugi were surprised with how fast I whizzed through things, Anzu told me what stores had what and where they were. I browsed through, got price opinions and picked up the most inexpensive things I could. I always did this, be it someone bought for me or I did it myself. Thankfully brands I was used to at home were also here. Might not be able to read them, but labels were still close in design and made it easy. Clothing, oh this was fun. For some reason Yugi thought it to be the funniest thing in the world when I insisted on going into the boy's and men's section. I never was one for girl's clothing and being here didn't change that fact. I was relived to find a store that sold things with an "American flavor." Really would make me feel at home to have such things. And what would you know, they happened to have a sale. Picked up a few pairs of jeans and various t-shirts. Right, the next part was awkward with Yugi around, underwear. Was even harder when I couldn't find bras just the right size. I swear, the boy's eyes about popped out of his skull when we got into that section. All the more reason to get out quickly. I got those items and a suggestion from Anzu to look into getting something a little more dressy almost irritated me. But I could see where she was coming from. Would look weird if I came into their home looking as I did. It was fine to change into my current clothing, but I should really set a better example. Right, so we picked up a nice pair of slacks and a blouse. This was as much as I wanted, but damn... my boots wouldn't work. Sandals, had some nice ones real cheap. Finally we were done, I felt bad having her pay for all this but she didn't seem to mind, said I actually spent less than she expected. Pays to be cheap some times. Wait, that sounded funny. Oh hell, these are my thoughts, I'm all that need to understand them. I did have some cash on me, I would see about finding a place to get it exchanged so I could pay Anzu back as best as possible._

We were going to return to Yugi's place for me to change before heading over to Anzu's. Yugi insisted on carrying some of the bags, I didn't argue and just let him. Anzu wasn't so bad, on the series at times she seemed a bit odd, don't know how else to put it. She talked a lot, was a cheerleader or sorts and really did her job well. Sometimes too well. Ah, she was nice to do all this for me. Hell, everyone was. And geeze, at the drop of a hat too? Oh, self induced guilt trip coming on, damn I'm good. Mr. Mutou let me borrow luggage to hold my stuff. We could always say I lost some as well as my hotel room or whatever, they said what I had was very light for travel so far from home for so long. I'd be doing laundry in the week, but I was happy having enough clothing for three more days, was better than only having what was on my back. And I had my own bath items now, felt even better that I wouldn't have to bum off someone. Although technically I did, Anzu bought it all. Right, yes, I will go get my currency exchanged as soon as possible.

I had just finished packing most my stuff before taking my change of clothing. However, the bathroom was blocked. Yugi stood in front of the door, but it wasn't the Yugi that Anzu and I had spent the evening with. He was taller, his face was harder and his eyes were unforgiving. The fact his irises were also red didn't help any. This was Yami Yugi, and I knew something was up. He only came out in Duels or when Yugi was in trouble. Why was he out now?

The teen studied the slightly taller woman, his gaze unwavering. She returned it, staring back into his red orbs without any expression to betray the worry that had seeped into her.

"Sarah, you almost ready?" Anzu called from another room as she began to approach the woman. She froze in her tracks when she saw Yami, quickly she asked him something, Sarah couldn't understand. Yami answered, his eyes still locked with the brown orbs of the woman in front of him.

_I didn't like his tone, he sounded angry and as far as I knew, I hadn't done a thing. I wasn't expecting what happened next._

"How have you come here?" Yami asked strongly.

"Wha-what?" Sarah blinked in surprise, she stepped back a bit. English shouldn't be what he was using, if Yugi didn't know it how could Yami?

"Everyone else seems to be willing to accept your story at face value, but I cannot. Strange things happen a lot, and more often than not they turn out to be trouble," Yami paused for a moment and asked Anzu to leave before he stepped up to the long haired woman. He spoke lowly, only she could hear. "And I know you have knowledge of myself as well as everyone else you have interacted with today. And more who you haven't met yet nor heard mentioned. How is this possible?"

_Oh great, I'm screwed. I hadn't anticipated this, no one was supposed to know of what I knew. I mean, how could I explain it? Yeah Yami, I'm from another world or something. Where I'm from all your friends are part of printed media and televised escapades. The whole world knows about you, you're toys, books, cards, shirts and other items. Sure, this would go over so well with him. How did I answer? I was simply going to hold eye contact with him and answer in the same quiet tone he had used._

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you. And I'd rather not go into it. I mean no harm to anyone, I'm lost and simply going with the flow while I'm here, hoping to find a way back home."

"You aren't from the Shadow Realm, I would sense it if so, I'm unsure what to make of you and this is what makes me not trust you. I will be watching you very carefully, if you bring any harm to any of our friends I will not hesitate to do anything, woman."

_Ouch, that's harsh. Never been spoken to like that before, then again I never knew more than I should in any given situation. Another question formed in the back of my mind, should I alert the others to what I know since Yami knows it? It was almost as if he had read my thoughts, about then he told me to tell no one, time would determine if they should know or not._

"How, how is it that you can understand and communicate with me?" Sarah asked in a normal volume. She stepped back from Yami, feeling uncomfortable with how close the younger person was.

"A talent, I can quickly absorb things and use them to my advantage."

"So that explains the slight southern accent you're using, you got it from me," Sarah gave a wiry grin.

"I could have picked the language up from Grandpa or Anzu at any time, but saw no need. So yes, I'm stuck with your accent now," Yami replied flatly.

"If you'll excuse me, I'd like to change so I can head over to Anzu's, I don't want to make a bad impression on her parents because I'm late," the woman said as she side stepped and slipped past Yami.

"You won't stay there long, I'm going to request keeping you here. Easier for me to keep an eye on you," Yami said over his shoulder. He turned away and his form melted away to Yugi's normal stature.

_Ok, no worries about me being the creepy person, Yami was really scaring me now. I closed the door about the time Yugi turned around, his eyes were wide and he had an apologetic look on his face. I gave a curt nod to him before the door closed completely, have no idea if he saw it or not. I changed quickly and slipped my discarded clothing into a bag, to keep them separate of my clean stuff. I tied my hair back into a low pony tail and made sure I looked presentable. Eh, it would work. I could dress normally the next day, so I'd put up with this for the time being. Well no sense in staying in here, might as well get it over with._

The walk to Anzu's home wasn't too great a distance, but being in new unbroken in shoes made it seem that much longer. There was also the fact I was carrying luggage too. Anzu took some, but I wouldn't let her take the heavy stuff. She was of smaller build than I was, so it seemed natural for me to take the heavy stuff. She assured me her parents spoke no English so conversation would be at a minimum if she needed to translate both ways. It went over fairly well, they had a few questions. Mainly how much different things were from where I came from. I'm ever so grateful they never asked what I did or tried to talk about political subjects. I had arrived in time for dinner, not quite sure what they were having then but I did like it. Always one to try new things, and was damn glad I was like that now; my mom would have turned her nose up at this. They didn't cook the veggies the way mom `thinks' they should be done. I rather liked the crunchy ones, mush is horrible. Her parents did a good job of making me feel welcome, Anzu said it was because she was hardly seen hanging around other girls, just her four guy friends. Four? Jou, Honda, Yugi, that's three. Was she counting Bakura? Maybe. Oh god, I don't want to meet him. If Yugi's Yami was that hard on me, I'd hate to see Yami Bakura... Maybe she meant Mr. Mutou, I don't know. And I'm not going to dwell on it, need to stay focused and friendly.

Her parents came to understand my trip had been hard and I lost so much of my things, that's why I had so little on me and my art was rather bare. I would die if I lost any of my art for real. Taking this into consideration, and that Anzu had said I was going to return to classes the next day; they didn't keep either of us up with conversation. I used the guest room, Anzu was to wake me the next morning so I could dress. I wasn't going to school with her, oh heavens no. When she set out the next morning I was going to return to the game shop with Mr. Mutou. I told myself I'd see if he could take me somewhere to get my American money exchanged for proper currency so I could repay Anzu. I'm not a morning person, this should be fun. I had showered that night so I wouldn't be in anyone's way the next day.

That night I had a dream, it told me I'd never get home and portrayed Yami as a rather mean individual. He had locked me away somewhere, I couldn't tell. It was a dream, yet being I was there where it could happen, it scared the begeezus out of me. We arrived at the game shop early, Anzu was going to walk with Yugi and accompanied me there. Yami greeted us, warned me again and reverted to Yugi once more. I could tell the boy was feeling guilty for his Yami's actions, I remained friendly around him and acted as if nothing happened so he wouldn't feel so bad. Yugi reminded me he knew some English when he wished me a good day before he and Anzu departed.

Today passed a bit quicker, Mr. Mutou took me to get currency exchanged and the others surprised me by being off early, an early release day or something. The weekend was coming up, so they'd be off tomorrow. Anzu only took part of what I owed her, she said I needn't worry about it and to use the rest for anything else I might need while I was there. Mr. Mutou wouldn't let me pay him back for the meal I had with him the other day; he said the little bit of cleaning and stocking I had done that day was more than enough. Well, I have cash now at least. Won't need others to pay my way.


	3. Chapter 3

Hm, wow. I have 6 reviews already, thanks guys =D

This is my first shot at something like this, I've no idea how it's going to go over with everyone but thanks for your support. I've tried hard to make it read more like something that could actually happen. Things might get a bit tricky later on, though. Theories are gonna be tossed about between characters. But that won't happen for a while yet.

As always, Yu-Gi-Oh! characters and everything related is (c) Kazuki Takahashi

* * *

Jou stole the paper from her clipboard, she had freed it to spin the page around to do fine detail. Sarah always did that, never keeping a paper one way for long.

"Hey! I wasn't done with that!" the young woman grunted. She knew Jou wouldn't understand a word of what she said, but knew he would get the drift. The taller teen held the sheet up over his head. He may be a few years younger than her, but was at least a foot taller. She had always been short, but with Yugi and his Grandfather around she wasn't the shortest anymore. Sarah grunted as she jabbed him in the ribs with the eraser end of the pencil. This only made Jou yelp and duck away.

"Give it back, please?" the young woman sighed.

Jou shook his head, assuming she was asking for the paper and drawing back.

Anzu snapped at him and he only stuck his tongue out as he flopped down on the couch next to Honda. The other teen shoved him slightly when he felt Jou was sitting too close. Jou slapped the page down on the table in front of everyone and pointed to the image before saying something.

"He's calling it a deranged Harpie Lady," Anzu informed the artist.

"Far from a Harpie. Something of my own creation, just a doodle," Sarah murmured as she reached for the page.

Anzu looked as if she was about to ask more, but closed her mouth and turned back to the bookwork she and the others were trying to do. Sarah shrugged and sat back on the couch as she sketched. Suddenly, she set the paper aside and picked up a new sheet. Yugi currently had the cutest expression on his face and the young woman was determined to try and catch it before it vanished. Luck was with her, it was an expression of confusion and frustration as he tried his best to figure out whatever he was working on. She had just put the last detail on the face before she decided to move onto the shoulders and chest. However, when she raised her eyes from the paper Yami's red eyes met her brown. He had felt her watching him and now had a brow cocked. The others apparently hadn't noticed Yugi's change as they still had noses buried in books while Jou complained rather loudly about something. Yami's eyes darted back towards the rooms before he stood and waited for the woman to follow him.

"You already know I distrust you, and this feeling of you watching me isn't helping any," the young man said as he crossed arms over his chest. Sarah sighed and held the clipboard up for him to see. He made a sound akin to a grunt before he turned around again. "Sorry, I suppose I should have kept that in mind." His form melted back into Yugi's, once more the teen turned around with an apologetic look. Sarah gave a smile and ruffled his hair. He made a slight protest and quickly straightened it before happily rejoining his friends. The young woman remained where she stood long enough to get the rest of her drawing done. She was going to attempt to draw Honda and Jou next, maybe make this a more comical and cartoon-ish drawing. But it might be considered rude, so she decided to refrain.

With the afternoon being so young, Anzu had insisted Sarah join the group as they strolled about. She really felt out of place, having only Anzu understand her made for limited conversation. With a bit of time and translating, Honda and Jou warmed up to the woman a bit and acted more natural around her. They were currently sitting in a soda shop of sorts, it specialized in drinks and some sweets. What she currently had was familiar, a friend had treated her to one in college. The straw in the drink was much larger and wider than normal, the reason being chunks of fruit and fruit jelly were mixed into the thick beverage. It took some getting used to the solids, but she did enjoy it. The guys talked while Anzu lent her attention to Sarah as the woman explained what her "deranged Harpie Lady" really was. Anzu didn't seem surprised to hear Sarah had created a world based on a game she had played as well as the comic companion. She had tons of characters and countless situations. The female creature she had drawn was her internet alias and avatar, an echidnoyle named Sarah-Le. Anzu was full of questions, the little bit she heard had been fascinating. But the story would have to wait, the guys were ready to go and getting antsy. Sarah was glad the conversation had been stopped, as much as she enjoyed working on her fictional world; informing others about it always felt awkward. She never knew how they might view it, be entertained or think she was nuts. Thankfully Anzu had been the former.

Anzu snapped at the boys, telling them to cool their heels and wait a bit, she needed to visit the ladies' room. Sarah went along, figuring it would be best to go now in case the guys continued to be demanding about time.

"I feel like excess baggage or something, I dunno. I'm out of place," Sarah said as she tossed the paper towels in the trash. 

Anzu shut the water off and reached for some to dry her hands. "Would you rather have sat around in the Game Shop with Yugi's grandfather? He's nice and all but you'd get bored after a while."

"Perhaps, but at least I wouldn't feel so awkward. It's just that you're all so close, and here I am. Just some stranger, and hell, only you can understand me and vise versa. It's just a bit daunting and all, like there's so much I can be left out on and it's not a fun feeling. You know?"

"Yami Yugi can understand you," Anzu said simply as she reached for the door.

"But you know, he doesn't like me," Sarah reminded in a hushed tone as the door swung open.

"Well, we just need to get him out more so he can change his mind," the girl replied with a smile. Sarah inwardly frowned, she knew having Yami around would only make her feel less needed and wanted. Much to her surprise, Yami stood by the door that lead back to the outside; Jou and Honda were nowhere to be seen.

"They wanted to do something I was sure the two of you wouldn't care for and told them I'd catch up later," Yami said more to Sarah than Anzu. "Walk with me, let's see if we can figure out where you came from," he added before he held the door open for the two ladies.

_What could I do? There he was asking about what really happened and already knowing he didn't trust me, I had to tell the truth. The scary thing was, he found it easier to believe than Anzu did. After a while Yami assured her that it was done by magic, magic that wasn't mine. Well that's a relief, seeing as how I don't have magic. But if Yami trusts me now, ok, so he still doesn't, but he's getting better. He thinks someone else is behind it and I'm an unknowing and unwilling pawn, so that's why he doesn't trust me. Anyway, if he trusts me more now I can feel a little more relaxed around him. Oh, and Yugi can stop feeling guilty for something he has no control over. Makes me wonder just what goes on in their head when the two have conflicting views, and if Yugi is able to absorb what Yami does. Be nice to have another English speaker around, Yugi was always my fave of the gang. For some reason I always preferred him over Yami, Yami was cool and all but Yugi was my fave. Yami also okayed me to tell Anzu about what I knew surrounding the group. _

"You don't think it was Bakura's doing, do you?" Anzu asked as the trio walked through a park.

"Ok, as I said earlier I know most folks by different names. Do you mean Bakura or the spirit from his Ring?" the American woman asked as she swept hair out of her face.

"Have a habit of referring to the spirit as Bakura, and his normal state is Ryou , still the same person but it's a way to tell the two personalities apart," Yami answered.

"What about you an Yugi?"

"We refer to each other as `my other half' and I'm normally just called Yugi by everyone else. Or Yami Yugi, but just Yugi is fine with me."

"Is it alright if I just use Yami?"

"I see, your lazy southern vocabulary gives you the right to shorten stuff?" Yami said in mock annoyance. The slight glint in his eye gave him away though and a giggle from Anzu managed to get the spirit to crack a smile.

"Don't scare me like that," Sarah scowled. She felt the need to thump him in the back of the head, but figured that would be pushing the boundaries that were still set up. As if he read her mind, he ducked down a bit and gave a laugh, allowing her to harmlessly swing over his head, barely brushing his hair. "Oddly enough, that made me feel better. Even though I missed," the woman smiled slightly. "Anyway, you were saying about Bakura?"

"He's not afraid to use his Shadow powers at will, and sometimes has no reason for what he does other than to humor himself. Wouldn't put it past him, really," Yami shrugged.

"Well why hasn't he shown up yet?" Anzu asked from where she stood on Yami's other side.

"If he shows up now because he was mentioned, I'm just going to run away, ok?" the woman muttered.

"No, he wouldn't. Too movie-like for his tastes."

"Besides, it might not be him. It was just an idea," Anzu shrugged, she felt a bit guilty for bringing it up now.

"And if you did run, it would only give him another kick," Yami warned.

"Bleah, guess your right," Sarah shrugged. "Hey, where did Joey and Honda run off to?"

Yami raised a brow at the first name, but knew who she meant. "I'll save you the details, like I said before I told them you two might not be keen on the idea so they should go ahead. We're going to meet them at the arcade in about an hour. We still have time if there's anything you'd care to see."

"Not really, no. I've never been an out and about person, y'all are gonna laugh if I say just what we've done today is going to wear me out. And I know this has to be a pretty normal day for everyone."

"Yes and no, sometimes we do more and sometimes less. Though taking in a movie will most likely be out of the question as I doubt you could understand anything," Anzu answered.

"Speaking of being worn out, I'm going to request you join us tonight and for the rest of your stay here," Yami spoke quickly.

"Are you sure? I really don't want to be a burden and having a female guest might need a little getting used to," Sarah tried to decline. 

Yami merely shook his head. "It will be no problem at all, I'd feel better if you were where I could keep an eye on you. Be it that you were in trouble, or could unwittingly cause it."

_Why did this not settle well with me? I should be thrilled to spend the night with one of my favorite characters but I was dreading it. I just couldn't shake that dream I had, and Yami insisting I stay with him in the Mutou residence wasn't helping anything. But I knew saying no wouldn't work. I'm so going to kick myself if I do the sleep walking thing and end up in someone else's bed. I swear, that would be a bitch to talk my way out of._

"Alright, but where am I rooming, I didn't see a good lot of space," she asked slowly.

"Yugi and I don't mind taking the couch while you're he-"

"No, I am NOT kicking you out of your own room. I don't mind the couch, it'll be fine," the woman waved.

"Yugi says he'll use the puppy eyes on you to get you to accept the room," Yami gave a wiry grin after a moment of zoning out.

"Won't work this time," Sarah shook her head.

"He has his ways," Yami gave a slight chuckle. Anzu had walked behind him and elbowed Sarah slightly in the side before whispering to her just to take up on the offer, it isn't everyday someone gives up their bed for you. The other girl also mentioned she felt a twinge of jealousy for the American's good luck. Now Sarah couldn't help but laugh. She took the time to inform Anzu that she wouldn't view it the same way she might, that Sarah already had a boyfriend and even hated kicking him out of his room when she would visit. With that, Anzu seemed a bit relieved, and it made Sarah wonder just what had been running through the other girl's head.

"Really now," Yami started with a smile, "if you're going to whisper at least get further out of earshot. Heard the whole thing."

"You're lying!" Anzu's eyes grew wide as her cheeks flushed a bit.

"Just enough to pick up on the female rivalry thing you had going on," he replied, letting the smile drop to a smirk.

"Ok, I hold him and you get to thwap, that ok with you?" Anzu said cheerfully as she whipped back around to Sarah, the older girl just laughed and reached around Anzu to thwap the back of Yami's head. As he recoiled from her thwap, Anzu landed one of her own.

"That was strangely satisfying," the brunette chirped.

"Glad to be of service," Yami replied as he rubbed where they had hit.

_We had arrived at the arcade early, fine by me. We could sit for a bit and I could just watch other persons come and go. Yugi and Yami had swapped again, and I was a bit surprised to find Yugi now had an almost complete English vocabulary, I still had to stop and explain any slang I used. Even Anzu would be a bit confused by some. Yugi was lucky to have not picked up my accent, but I must admit it was VERY entertaining to hear Yami use a slight southern drawl, I'm sure Anzu got a kick out of it as well. But the amazingly short period in which Yugi had picked up the language was what held my attention and our conversation until the others would arrive. Yugi said he could pick up things quickly if Yami would let him, being able to share their minds allowed them to search the other's if an answer eluded them. Of course, if one mind was in a state of slumber it wouldn't work quite as well. After hearing that Yami would often be the one to take in school lessons, I teased Yugi about Yami falling asleep during a test and leaving the poor boy on his own. Right then he admitted maybe he had begun to rely on Yami a bit too much. Anzu had wondered off to the snack bar to pick us all up a drink and maybe candy. I settled for an iced tea alone. I was a bit surprised they had iced tea, could have sworn it was just an American thing. As we talked, I absent mindedly folded napkins up into these paper claw things I'd learned to make in grade school, made enough for all my fingers and Yugi and Anzu had just taken up on making their own when Jou and Honda finally arrived, with an extra in tow. I tried so hard not to tense up, as much as I loved the character, Ryou Bakura unnerved me in real life. I didn't realize I still had the claws on my fingers until Ryou held his hand out in a friendly manner._

She quickly pulled the claws off one hand before taking the boy's into a friendly shake, assuming he spoke no English she only smiled her greeting.

"Nice to meet you," the light haired teen said slowly, he seemed to be testing his English.

"Ah, you speak it too?" Sarah asked.

"Some, you will have to go slow as I am still learning," he replied with a smile that looked more apologetic than friendly. "I am a bit confused about something. Jounouchi never gave me a name, he called you the Harpie Lady for some reason," Ryou cocked a brow.

"Something I drew, guess he's not going to let me live it down," the woman shot Jou a hard glare. "But my name is Sarah," she replied. Jou appeared as if he was demanding to know what was said, Yugi giggled and told him. The other teen only stuck his tongue out at the woman and said what he had first said when he took her drawing.

"He just called me that again, didn't he?" she grumbled. "Maybe I should give him reason to use the name," she moved in such a way to make her wallet chains violently swing out and make themselves known before she snatched them up in her hands. Jou took a moment to regard her and got into a defensive stance. The woman sighed and let the chains drop down, she didn't wish to go further and start anything. Not with just having got on Yami's good side, and she had no quarrel with Jou, she only wished he'd leave her be.

_At some point during the stay in the arcade I had ended up sitting with just Ryou, he seemed perfectly happy just sitting around while the others played games. Well, Anzu would hover about and watch, she said playing wasn't really her thing. Occasionally she'd get a round in at some odd game though. Ryou was nice enough, I was relieved to have not had any trouble from his yami. Though, at times it was hard for us to understand one another, he wasn't lying about learning the language. I found myself explaining simple things to him, and sometimes breaking them down so much I felt silly, like I was explaining this stuff to a three year old. You know, I wonder if that was what triggered it..._

He had changed suddenly, his features seemed darker and the way his hair framed his face was unsettling, the woman tried her best to look un-phased by the change, after all he had yet to speak.

"Try as you might, I can see it," he chuckled deeply as he nonchalantly leaned back in the chair. He picked up the cup before him and swirled the liquid around in it. "I know where you're from and what you know," he shot a glance at her, his eyes just barely over the rim of the cup. "And I know you're trying to remain brave or calm in hopes I'll just go away, correct?" he asked as he set the cup down. 

The woman narrowed her eyes and propped her elbows on the table, she placed her chin on laced fingers and leaned forward a bit. "I just want to know if you are why I am here." Looked like Bakura had a better command of English then Ryou did.

There was a short bark of laughter as Bakura picked the cup up and drank from it, he set it down with a chuckle. His eyes showed no humor though, they glared back at her menacingly. "Why would I be? If it was me I would have summoned you into my presence and gone from there. No, I only know about you and where you came from. Not how you got here, and that's why you're so interesting. Out of all the persons that know of this reality from your animated series and printed media, why was it you that came here? A better question would be who knew first and decided to broadcast it everywhere. I'm pretty sure even they have got details wrong. I know for a fact that anyone telling a story may take, certain liberties. Correct?"

_Why was he so intent on carrying out a civil conversation? This was beginning to get to me, I think he was putting me on the spot, trying to get to information he thought he hadn't learned yet. Well great, if he's going to be after me that's one more thing to worry about. I think I zoned out a little too long this time, oh boy._

She blinked again, brown eyes were inches from her face, she could feel him breathing so close to her and it made her want to recoil or squirm. Though too close to tell, she swore Bakura smiled before he pulled away and sat back down.

"Rude to just ignore someone like that, don't you think?" he asked as he threw an arm over the back of the chair. A glance was shot behind Sarah, but the woman failed to notice.

"I figured it was a rhetorical question," she replied simply.

"Perhaps, but I'm intrigued by all this and wonder if this could be used as a means to foretell the future," he gave her a very unnerving glare before returning to his thoughts.

"And you think I could be used for this? Not if I'm here I can't, not if I can't see the full story at once." It made sense in one way, but in another it was confusing.

"Who says you'd have to be here?" he chuckled, a grainy sound. Reminded her of sand in a sifter.

"And you think you could get me back home and that I would be willing to work as a... seer or whatever? Who says I would be willing, hmm?"

"Yes and no would I get you back home, once I figure out how to get to where you are from and back there won't be a need for you. If I can get the information myself, there's no need for a middleman. Or woman, whatever," he raised a brow.

"Oh thank you so very much for your kindness," the sarcasm was just dripping off that. Bakura returned it with a look that spoke `what did you expect from me?'

_I had no idea Yami Yugi was standing behind me for the last half of this conversation. He scared the crap out of me when his hands planted themselves on the table to either side of me and he leaned over my head almost protectively. He said something to Bakura, sounded rather harsh and was somehow... different from how I had heard Yami speak before. It then dawned on me then, he had spoke in ancient Egyptian, apparently it was something he wanted no one else to understand. Be it the reaction he was looking for or not, Bakura simply smirked as his features wavered and returned to Ryou. The boy looked a bit confused by Yami's stance and had wondered what happened. Yami relaxed and moved away from me at last, he pulled a chair up and sat down with the two of us. I knew Yami Bakura always kept his other self in the dark when he took over, so I figured it would be best not to inform him of what had happened, if Yami wanted it known he could tell._

"You zoned out there for a little while, are you ok now?" Yami asked. Sarah wondered why he used English if he wasn't talking to her, maybe he thought it rude to leave her out of the conversation if both could speak English.

"I suppose, but did I do something wrong? Neither of you looked too pleased with me," Ryou bit his lip in anticipation of what they might say.

"You just scared me a bit, I have a sister with epilepsy and I always worry when someone zones out," Sarah said with a weak smile. She didn't like to think about it, but hoped it would be enough to explain whatever expression she had on her face. Ryou must not have known what she meant because he gave a puzzled look. Yami answered him and this time he didn't use English, he had picked up the discomfort Sarah felt when she mentioned it. Ryou's eyes widened and he apologized a thousand times for worrying the woman like he had. Yami once again relinquished his hold to Yugi as the group reassembled, everyone was apparently out of coins and figured it time to head out.


	4. Chapter 4

For those that have noticed, yes this -is- a long story. I'm using what I know and what I can do to the fullest extent of my, er, power. I have the whole thing actually finished, it was completed a few months back. I just now got enough nerve to post it. Let a friend read it and she said it was worthy, so that's why it's going up now.   
  
I do tend to be long winded, I have a fairly active and creative imagination so this is what becomes of stuff ;D   
  
Yu-Gi-Oh! characters and everything related is (c) Kazuki Takahashi   
  


* * *

  
  
It was such a large group to be in the small shop, for it's size they technically were a crowd. Yugi sat on the counter while his grandfather counted the drawer for the day, everyone else was scattered about the shelves. Not that they were browsing them, but leaning on them. Looked like playing games all afternoon really was demanding. Sarah was the only one besides Mr. Mutou not sitting or leaning on something. She let her eyes wander around the store once more as they conversed, in a way she didn't mind not understanding them because she had always been such a quiet person, but not being at home and surrounded by the closest thing you have to friends tends to change a person; she almost craved attention now but tried hard not to demand it. She rubbed her eyes, they had been unusually dry today and she pulled out the eye drops she carried with her. Apparently, to the others watching her put the drops in was the most fascinating thing they'd seen. She got the first eye done and blinked at them before moving to the living quarters to do the other eye, she needed to use the restroom anyway.   
  
Yugi had the most interesting timing; just as he was about to knock on the bathroom door, it opened and sent his knuckles into Sarah's stomach. She flinched a bit and the boy slapped a hand over his mouth momentarily.   
"I am so sorry, I didn't mean to hit you," he apologized.   
"No harm done, I must admit that was a rather interesting experience," she said as she pat him on the shoulder.   
"Grandfather is going to take us all out to eat tonight, nothing special just... fast food I think you call it. You care to come? Don't know just who else is going yet as they need to call home first."   
"I suppose, have nothing to do here and I'm starting to enjoy everyone's company, so yeah," the woman nodded.   
  
All but Jou and Ryou were able to come. Now it was Honda's turn to feel left out as everyone else was able to use English, eventually Yugi took up the part as translator so the other boy wouldn't feel forgotten. Mainly they spoke of the card game after remembering the drawings Sarah had done, the whole of the Duelist Kingdom story was told again. It was interesting to hear differences from what she had seen.   
  
"Oh, if you're not staying with Anzu we'd better pick up your things before it gets too late," Yugi said suddenly.   
"Ah, I had forgotten about that. If everyone's done we should get that take care of," Mr. Mutou grunted as he stood. Honda was quickly informed of the situation and decided he would call it a night. He asked Anzu how to say good evening and good night in English before he departed. When Anzu was dropped off, Sarah's belongings were grabbed before she thanked both the girl's parents for their hospitality.   
  
_I was beginning to feel more comfortable here, this was the second day and everyone had been great. Well, Joey obviously wasn't too thrilled still but he was getting better. Bakura, well what could I have expected from him? Well, I didn't expect him to know everything yet, that worried me the most. How he knew. Best not to dwell on it, and Yami had managed to make me forget any worries I had about him when he stepped in during my unpleasant talk with the spirit of the Ring. I was suddenly glad to be staying in his company, I knew so little about Bakura and his unpredictability worried me greatly._   
  
"Let me move some things and you can set the bags down over here," Yugi said where he was hidden on the other side of his desk.   
"Really, I don't have to take over your room. The couch is fine with me and..." she paused when the big violet eyes popped up from the other side of the desk. "Oh no you don't," she laughed before closing her eyes.   
"I'll go camp out on it and make you take the room," the teen said defiantly.   
"And I bet I can pick you up and move you back in here," Sarah stated as she opened her eyes.   
"...that's cheating!" Yugi huffed as he folded his arms over his chest. "And now you've got my other half in a fit of laughter over the threat. He says he bets you couldn't carry him."   
"I could try, or drag him off," she shrugged. Yugi blinked at something and laughed loudly for a moment. By the look in his eyes, Sarah didn't want to know what his other half had said to get that reaction.   
"Alright, let's just test how easy it is for you to pick me up," Yugi said as he stood and dusted himself off.   
"Kay," Sarah shrugged as she scooped the boy up and plopped him down on the bed. She took a moment to be childish and stuck her tongue out before racing into the living room and plopping down on the couch.   
"Oh come on, it's not even eight yet. You really going to just stay there? What if we want to watch something on TV, hmm?" Yugi raised a brow as he leaned on the back of the couch.   
"Sit on me like I know my friends or sister back home would do?" she replied as she stuck her hands behind her head.   
"I hope they're all smaller than you," the boy's eyes widened at the thought.   
"Nope, but some are skinny things at least. My sister is smaller though, younger too."   
Yugi took a moment to try something, he reached over the couch and jabbed the older girl in the side with a finger. She yelped and fell off the couch, in one swift movement Yugi was over the back and sprawled out on it himself. He stuck his tongue out and grinned widely.   
"You little bum," the woman said in amusement as she stood up. "And you already know I can haul you off and, HEY! Now that is cheating," she huffed as she looked back at Yami.   
"Sorry, we've claimed it and you get the room, no buts," the spirit chuckled.   
"I would sit on you, but since I'm not a skinny person I won't. Sitting on folks is a serious threat I use," she said as she crossed her arms.   
"Serious threat? Oh come now, it's hardly a threat. You are not as big as you seem to think you are."   
"Can't see my feet," the woman replied as she looked down.   
"Because you're a girl and, you know," the spirit replied as he waved a hand in the air, not wanting to say it.   
"Yeah, that's why. But still," she began as she grabbed his ankles and began to pull. Yami clamped his hands onto the couch and refused to move without a fight.   
"It's nice to see you actually relaxing a bit," Mr. Mutou said as he walked into the room.   
"He won't listen to me, said he'll take the couch and I get the room. But I don't want to make him move just for me," the woman replied as she continued to tug on the amused Yami.   
"Well, if you don't want his room I have no problem letting you use mine," the old man chuckled.   
"What, hey, no! I'm not going to take it from two sides. I'll sleep on the floor in a room if you're both going to insist I take one over," the woman said as she released her hold on Yami's ankles.   
"I bet you wouldn't," Yami replied as he sat up and drew his legs into his chest.   
"Bet I would," the woman retorted.   
"Stubborn one she is," Mr. Mutou shook his head with a smile.   
"And we can be stubborn right back. Could always bind you to that bed then you wouldn't have a choice."   
"And then you'd be a captor," the woman blinked. A bit of uneasiness settled in, and Yami saw it.   
"Oh! No, I wasn't being serious, forgive me. You're still not as comfortable here as I thought. It was rude of me to make a joke that could be taken so seriously when we don't know one another well enough," the spirit apologized as he got to his feet.   
"S'ok," the woman said as she tilted her head to the side. Yami got her signal and followed into Yugi's room as Mr. Mutou hummed to himself before taking over the couch to read.   
  
"The meeting with Bakura earlier has me a bit edgy," she said quietly once the spirit was in the room.   
"It has that effect. And I don't mean to frighten you, but now that he has a use for you it won't be the last time you see him."   
"So you know what he thinks I can do?"   
"Pretty much, he wants to use the entertainment from your world as a means of foresight on future events in ours. Or he wants to try at least, who knows just how much use it could be to him."   
"See, that's another thing. What if what I know is all based on events after they happen here, then he couldn't do any future sight things. Just view the past as the author wrote it. I mean, from what I know the Duelist Kingdom thing just ended, and from how you spoke it was almost a year ago in your time."   
"Still, he could learn things that he wouldn't have known of any other way. So some use would come of it. That's why I can't let it happen. And if it means keeping you here, then it will have to be done," Yami trailed off when he noticed how rigid the woman had become. "I'm sorry, and I know how it would effect you but you must understand; this is bigger than just you being out of place. The fate of this world could be altered because of what he may learn and your world might be in danger as well."   
"Great, I could cause the apocalypse of two worlds, not just one. You know, I don't like this feeling at all. I liked being a no one and just left alone. I don't relish the idea of being used."   
"No one ever likes it, but you have my word. I won't let anything happen to cause harm to the balance of everything. And, I'll give you fair warning. If things seem scary now they can and most likely will get worse. You're in the middle of it either way, Bakura might not be all to worry about."   
"Yami, you're scaring the crap out of me now, I doubt I'll be able to sleep," she shuddered.   
"Sorry, I'll leave you be for now. Yugi makes better company for this. Depending on how long you are here with us, you'll have the rest of our friends behind you as well." With that, the spirit faded and Yugi returned.   
  
Sarah silently sat on the bed and slid into the wall where she rest her head and back against. Yugi hopped up and sat down next to the woman before he tucked his knees into his chest and wrapped his arms around them. He stared straight ahead as she sighed and shifted, a hand was brought down to gently pet his head. He let her run her fingers through his hair and glanced out of the corner of his eyes to her, she seemed zoned out.   
  
_His hair really did remind me of my cats' fur. So soft and soothing to the touch, I couldn't help but pet him like I would Spectre or Midnight. I feared I'd never see them again after what Yami had said. I feared I'd never see my friends or family again. And worse, Eric, my boyfriend. I, I just vanished. No one knew where I was and must be worried sick. And what made it worse was I could call home, if not for the fact I wasn't within calling range. I was fine, safe and had found a place to stay but had no means of letting anyone know. They must be so worried and scared. A million different things running through their minds, thoughts being filled with nothing but fear and horror. Now I had done it, I pulled my hand out of Yugi's hair to brush away the tear that managed to fall. I inhaled deeply and tried to relax, I couldn't go to pieces now, not if things might get worse. I guess Yugi noticed my drastic change in mood because the smaller figure curled up next to me and gave me a slight hug. I felt the corners of my mouth drawing into a meek smile as I draped an arm around his shoulders. I did feel safer knowing he and Yami were around. I was oh so relieved to have had the luck to `pop up' so close to the Game Shop. Even luckier to find out his grandfather was friendly enough to put up with me crashing here for... however long I was going to be here. Again, Yugi sensed my mood swing and squeezed the hand I had on his shoulder. Yami was right, the little guy did have his way to accomplish whatever task he had set his mind on._   
  
It remained silent for a while, eventually Yugi shifted and pulled away to sit up.   
"You ok?" he asked softly as worried violet eyes met tired brown ones.   
"I will be, its just that no one knows where I am and I have no means of letting them know I'm safe. That's all," she said in a slightly shaky voice.   
Yugi nodded slowly, "I know what's it's like to be the one worrying about someone lost. But hope always remains that they will return."   
"Yeah..."   
  
_We passed time a bit, Yugi had a gaming system that we were able to go head-to-head on. Ah, fighting games, I always mash buttons and sometimes it works. Not this time, I got my butt whooped. Oh well, was fun none the less. At times the bum would purposely just set the controller down and let me get a few free hits in. After a while I'd set mine down too, the timer would tick down and the round would be a draw. I told him not to go easy on me, being a challenge was what kept me playing. I thought for sure he'd get bored after a while of countless wins, but every once in a while I did get one in. He offered to show me how to play his card game, but I wasn't too sure about that. I had no deck, not on me at least. But at home I had a deck, never been used as I had no opponent to play. He said he was sure he could get his grandfather to give me a starter deck, I refused. Told him I'm getting enough special treatment and a free deck would not be part of it. I would pay for it, but I was told to keep my money for anything else that was essential. I did settle on at least learning of the rules and some strategies as well as compatible monsters for the fusions. I had a rule book and all, but never finished reading; someone else at home would always call my attention away from it. After a while we just settled in to watch TV. News mainly, and I zoned out as I couldn't understand it. His grandfather was about ready for bed so I decided to shower quickly so as not to wake anyone up. I always showered late at home, we're talking after midnight and between three am. But I wasn't going to do it here, didn't care if I woke family up. Well, they were used to it by now, so it didn't matter. I had towel dried my hair before I returned to the living room in time to get a good night from Mr. Mutou, I wished him the same and told him I'd see him in the morning. Yugi was still up, he had changed into his bed clothes but said there was a movie he wanted to catch. So I figured I'd sit with him a bit longer. As I rounded the couch, I caught sight of where I had set my clipboard and the paper. I moved the unused paper and was reminded of the sketch I had started of Yugi. Needed to clean up the shoulders and chest area before I began to shade it in. So I took it with me as I sat down. Paid marginal attention to the movie, again I couldn't understand what was going on. Kid apparently liked horror movies, that's what this was. Wonder if he gets nightmares. I know I do at times when I watch certain things so close to bed. Right, I'm really going to concentrate on this drawing.   
  
Since my attention had been divided between drawing and movie, my progress had gone so slowly. I had just put the finishing touches on the image and signed my name as the credits began to roll. Yugi was asleep, he had slumped over a bit to lean on the arm rest on the other side. I planned to give the drawing to him, so I placed it right on the table there in front of us. I got up and put the clipboard back where I had picked it up before the movie. I tried my best not to stir Yugi as I pulled his feet onto the couch and draped the blanket over him. I propped the pillow up beside the couch so he could easily find it when he woke from discomfort or such. Fumbled a bit trying to figure out how to turn the TV off before I retreated to his room and closed the door. Normally I liked to sleep in pure darkness, but the window was on the slanted ceiling with no curtains so streetlights from outside were able to shine through. No matter, I just wouldn't face the window as I slept. And damnit, everyone has a better bed than I do. Ok, when I was young for whatever reason my bed was always the one used for jumping. One time my younger brother and two of his friends had been over, jumping on my bed no less. They broke the box springs and damaged the mattress. My parents only got new box springs, no mattress. That happened about seven or so years ago, I still have that old mattress. It gives me back and neck problems all the time, I need a new one. I was going to get spoiled here while I took Yugi's bed, it was even better than the one in Anzu's guestroom. I was asleep in no time, dream was better that night. _   
  
"Yugi, it's after noon, has our guest awoke yet?" Mr. Mutou asked as he ducked in from the shop momentarily.   
"No, she's still asleep," the youth replied from where he was lounging on the couch. Saturday programming had his attention, and it wasn't normally till around this time Jou and Honda would be pulling themselves out of bed, so it wasn't like he had much else to do at the moment.   
"Either she's really worn out or is a late sleeper." As if on cue, the door to the bedroom opened and a disheveled woman emerged. She gave an awkward smile and strode into the bathroom. She exited moments later rubbing her eyes before she stumbled into the kitchen.   
"Don't have contacts in yet, blind. Which cabinet has glasses? Need some water," she yawned.   
"Oh, I'll get it," Yugi hopped off the couch to get one for her while Mr. Mutou rummaged through the fridge.   
"Do you care for lunch or want breakfast instead?" the old man chuckled.   
"Lunch good," she said. Language was always lost on her when she was a zombie.   
"Here," Yugi offered the glass with ice and water to her.   
"Thanks," she replied before letting herself more or less fall into a chair.   
"I saw the drawing you did of my grandson, it's very nice," Mr. Mutou said as he pulled various items from the fridge.   
"Yeah, it is. Thank you. I'm guessing it means I can keep it since you left it there for me to find?" the youth asked.   
The woman nodded, still half asleep. "All yours," she said with her lips still on the rim of the glass.   
"Thank you!" he chirped brightly. Sarah only waved and gave another half drunken looking smile. The woman took a few more moments to wake up before she got ready. Once dressed she finally put her contacts in. By then, the sandwiches Mr. Mutou had started were finished. Sarah said she was fine without mayo or anything, a dry sandwich was always what she took.   
  
"I've had many compliments on the monsters I had you draw, Sarah," Mr. Mutou said as he took a seat once he had served the other two.   
"Ah, you put them up already I take it?" she asked before taking a bite. The old man nodded.   
"Would you be interested in selling a few? I'd like to keep at least one for myself but the others I could sell."   
"Well, I did give them all to you so technically it's up to you if you wish to sell them," the woman said after swallowing.   
"I'd hate to do so without asking first. Wouldn't feel right."   
"Well, now you know it's fine," she replied. A knock from below caught their attention. Apparently someone failed to notice the `out to lunch' sign and was determined to be seen. Mr. Mutou excused himself to get it. Jou raced into the room, followed by Honda; the two must be by to pick up Yugi. The lack of Anzu lead Sarah to believe either they didn't care to have her around or she didn't wish to come at the time. Mr. Mutou had the two sit in the living room to allow the others to finish eating first. He sounded a bit upset with them, Yugi informed the woman they had pushed their way in rather than asking to be let in. Yugi had left the drawing on the table in front of the couch and the two teens were now enthralled by it.   
  
"Dude, you think she did this?" Honda asked as he gaped at the image.   
"Had'ta be. Lookit the er, signature thing. It's English or something like it. All scribbly," the blonde replied. He glanced back to where the other three were eating, seemingly involved in their own conversation.   
"Hey, you think we could get her to do something for us?" Honda interrupted the other boy's thoughts.   
"Na, I don't think she likes me too much," the other shook his head.   
"You've been pretty rude you know," Honda reminded him.   
"She's been somewhat rude back. And sometimes scary, she hardly smiles I swear. She's like, a female Kaiba in that way," Jou shuddered.   
"Kaiba? Too friendly for him. She's just really lost and confused. She's tried being friendly with you but you aren't returning it."   
"Friendly, did you see how she grabbed the chains the other day?"   
"You keep calling her a Harpie and she knows it, Jounouchi," Honda said flatly.   
"Alright, I'll knock it off. But that thing she drew reminded me of one. And it had the same demeanor she did. S'all," the teen shrugged.   
"Good, and you get to deliver the message Ryou sent with us," Honda said as he stretched and leaned back on the couch.   
"Why's he want to see her anyway?" Jou asked as he did the same.   
"Maybe he likes her," Honda laughed.   
"Or maybe it's Bakura," Jou mumbled.   
"Dude, no, when you say that I don't want to let her go see him. Bakura's no good and is unpredictable."   
"That's why we ain't letting her go alone like he asked..."   
  
_When I had been told of Ryou's request Jou made the crack about maybe he liked me. I had Yugi tell him I was taken. I should have been more specific, Jounouchi got the idea I meant I was taken by Yugi. The boy's eyes about popped out of his skull as he tried explaining I meant someone back home. Jou wouldn't let it be, I think he was using the picture to say otherwise. Yugi became flustered and Mr. Mutou had to scold Jou before he would quit. Not even Honda's demands to drop the subject would be heeded. I was grateful everyone decided to tag along when I visited Ryou. His family was out for the time being, so if the guys weren't with me I would have been alone. Anzu was at work, and had no idea any of this was happening._   
  
"When we talked yesterday you said you were an artist and liked to look at art. My father has done much traveling and has collected art from everywhere and all times. I thought you might care to see some of what we have," the teen smiled warmly once he let everyone in. Maybe it had been Ryou that asked for her presence and not Bakura. But the come alone part didn't make much sense. The boy was right, carvings of wood and stone set on pedestals around the entry way. Paintings and prints were neatly framed and hung on the walls. Near the door way to the kitchen was a beautifully dyed and woven tapestry. The woman eagerly wandered around to look at everything; she never touched a thing and even held her chain tightly so it wouldn't become tangled with anything and cause damage. The three that came with her settled themselves in the den to flip through magazines from various places while Ryou gave short bits of history on certain pieces.   
  
"Do you think we should be following them?" Yugi asked. He too wasn't quite sure if Bakura would cause trouble or not.   
"Do you feel like wandering around and hearing all this stuff again?" Jou asked.   
"Hey, I'm the only one that can understand English. Not like you two have to worry," the tri-color haired boy remarked.   
"Yeah, but we still know what he's saying. As long as they remain indoors they should be fine," Honda waved as he flipped a page.   
  
"Even the bedrooms hold some things. Mainly smaller and more valuable bits. Kind of a way to make sure they will not be picked up as easily," Ryou stated as he ushered the woman into the master bedroom. "Here, on these shelves and then on the headboard cabinet of the bed," he motioned to each area.   
"You have some beautiful things. My grandmother on my father's side did a lot of traveling and when she passed away, I opted to take some things. What we didn't take would be sold," Sarah replied as she looked over a few ivory figures.   
"Out of all the little trinkets this family has collected, you'd think they would eventually come across something useful," the deeper voice chuckled.   
"Bakura!" the woman hissed as she turned around to face the spirit of the Ring.   
"Are you surprised? You shouldn't be, perfect opportunity to speak with you again. I only wish those fools hadn't of come as well. Things always become more complicated when they are around. No matter, I think I have a means to buy us some time," he snarled as he clamped a hand on her arm. The woman tried to wrench it free and cry out, but his other hand painfully clamped itself over her mouth. Bakura smirked and drew her in close before whispering viciously to her, "If you struggle and fight me, you might become lost forever between Realms. Now be a good girl and just give in," he murmured as he gathered his magic and forcefully tore the woman from the Material Realm and into the Shadow Realm.   
  
_This was a concept that paralleled another fandom I was into. Legacy of Kain to be exact. In the Soul Reaver series the main character Raziel was a fallen vampire, raised as a wraith creature of sorts. He fed on souls. But he wasn't a material being anymore, he was beyond having a corporeal form. He thrived in the Spectral Realm, much like the Shadow Realm of where I now was. It was cold, dark and only a shadow of the living world. You couldn't interact with persons if they weren't in the same Realm. The world was still spinning sickeningly even after the shift had been made complete. Bakura released his hold on me and shoved me forward, being dizzy I easily fell over. I had no idea what he planed to do, but I wasn't about to make it easy on him._


	5. Chapter 5

And Bakura's plan gets mentioned now, ooo >>;;;   
  
Things will start getting a little weird after this part, but for now it's about like it has been for the other chapters.   
  
Yu-Gi-Oh! characters and everything related is (c) Kazuki Takahashi   
  


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"I've not brought you here to harm you. Well, not as my top priority at least. Here my magic is stronger. You will help me find the dimensional rift that leads to your world. Once I have it, then you are of no use to me. I might send you home, I might leave you here with the twerps or I might bind you to this realm and leave you stranded. All depends on my mood," the spirit said as he folded his hands neatly behind his back. "Now get up, you'll not be allowed to rest when I'm here on business," he snarled.   
  
Yami raced through the rooms in the house, Honda and Jou on his heels.   
"I can't believe it, he tried something even when we all were here!" Jou panted as he tried to keep up with the frantic spirit.   
"Why is she so important?" Honda questioned. Yami ignored him and moved to the next room. When he turned to leave, he found Honda blocking the door. "What is special about her that puts her in danger and makes you this frazzled?"   
"She, she knows things. Things he wants to exploit. And, she's sort of an other worldly person. She's not from around here, here being this world." Yami said slowly. He had no idea how to break the news to them and didn't wish to sugar coat it.   
"Alien?" Jou cocked his head.   
"No, no. More like from a world parallel to ours. Did you know where she's from there is an animated series and a graphic novel based on us?" the spirit smirked a bit.   
"This sounds like Twilight Zone material," Honda muttered.   
"What makes it worse is Bakura knows all this and is going to use her for his own means." Yami cut off any further conversation.   
"So where are they?" Honda asked. "We've checked the whole house..."   
"Where else?" Yami started. "He's taken her to the Shadow Realm."   
  
"Do let me know if you see anything familiar so I may look into it further," Bakura more or less growled. He had his back to the woman and was concentrating on projecting an image of sorts, it cycled through things quickly, almost to the point of inducing vertigo in the woman. The spirit snarled as he slowed the slideshow. "You mortals lack the capacity to take things in quickly. A bothersome little thing, makes this take longer than I would like. Of course, there is another way," he said. With the flick of his wrist the image was gone. He turned quickly to face the woman, she took a reflexive step back and he stepped forward again. He was enjoying this, fear was welling up in her eyes and he was going to relish every bit of it. He grinned widely and let her take a few steps backward before his arm and hand shot up with lightning speed, he grabbed her face and just held his hand there as hers raced up to grab his arm. She tugged in vain, trying to remove his hold.   
"If you struggle so much right off you'll wear yourself out more," he chuckled darkly.   
  
_I could feel him pushing at boundaries within my head, walls I didn't know I had. Then again, I did have a habit of shutting myself off from the outside world. I locked things away, to keep them from swimming around and bothering me. It was amazing and terrifying at the same time to feel him methodically tearing at my boundaries; pushing his way into my head. Eventually I couldn't hold him off anymore, a migraine had seized me. A horrible one, my skull felt like it was on fire and rapidly expanding. At some point the pain caused by his reckless searching became so great, I slipped away..._   
  
"Fine time to pass out," the spirit of the Ring hissed as he was forced to support the weight of the now unconscious woman. He hadn't found much of interest, well not in what he was looking for. Her mind was full of frivolous details and a dark fairy-tale like land. It was about all Bakura could find, he would have to search really deep for what he needed. A slight disturbance caused him to halt momentarily as alert eyes scanned the area around him. He scowled when the murky fog-like covering obscured his line of sight so far from him. If not for the fact he could sense the other souls he might have missed them. "Well Pharaoh, it took a sizeable amount of time to get here. I could have killed her by now," he said wickedly.   
"But you didn't, you haven't found what you need," Yami said as he cleared a patch of murky fog. His red eyes fell quickly to the woman who lay limp against the Tomb Robber. Behind him Yugi, Honda and Jou approached.   
"Not only do you bring the bandwagon, you actually let your host roam free. How careless of you little Pharaoh. He's an easy target here."   
"You say it as if your refusal to let your host stand alone is out of a need to protect him," Yami growled.   
"No, I do not have the time or energy to put up with his freewill, so I restrict him to save my temper." The tomb robber grunted as he shifted the woman. She was like a dead weight at the moment, and with company he wasn't going to accomplish much. "You all look like jackals standing around there. Here, take her. I'll get her when she's most vulnerable," the Ring spirit snarled as he heft the woman up and shoved her towards the group. Jou made the move to catch her as Yami fully turned his attention to the tomb robber. Bakura grinned and slowly backed into darkness. Yami scowled and went after him.   
  
"Set her down. Prop her feet up, I think it helps," Yugi said as he kneeled where Jou was laying the woman down.   
"What did he do her?" Honda asked as he inspected the bruises Bakura had made on her arm and face.   
"I don't know, I didn't feel anything on the back of her head so I doubt he hit her," Jou mumbled as he slid his hands out from under her head.   
"We need to wake her up, I'm afraid of what might happen if she stays out too long here," Yugi bit his lip.   
"We need your other half here, to get us all back." Honda stated at he took his trench coat off and folded it before putting it under the woman's feet. Yugi sat down and put her head in his lap as he moved hair from her face.   
"Yuug, after you said prop her feet up you bring her head up? How's that gonna work?" Jou asked.   
"The ground is rocky though, don't want to leave her head on it," he said as violet eyes turned up to the taller teen. With a sigh he gently rolled her head from side to side in a effort to wake her.   
  
_I heard voices, three I think. I recognized Yugi right off the bat and the other two sounded familiar. They were speaking English though, I think at least. My eye lids felt heavy and as if they were tied shut, I know they had to flutter a few thousand times before I could even open them slightly. My head was being gently rocked back and forth, I felt something under me move. I grunted and brought a hand to my head to rub the back. My fingers brushed fabric and I tried to sit up. Small hands tried to help me from behind, that was also the direction Yugi's soft voice was coming from so I assumed it was him I had just been laying on. My eyes finally opened, though vision was horrid. I made out two figures. One stood by my feet and the other was kneeling to my side. The green of his jacket told me it was Jou._   
  
"Hey Yuug, ask her if she's ok and what happened," the blonde said.   
"My head hurts, and I don't know what happened, he did some mind thing to me," the woman replied groggily.   
"Hey! She understood me and I understood her!" Jou said as he fell back on his rear.   
"You're not the only one," Honda said as he reclaimed his trench coat from under her feet.   
"Sorry," the woman said as she moved her heavy boots. She sat still for a moment then as her head fully cleared, her eyes shot up to look at both Honda and Jounouchi. "You, you can speak English?" she questioned.   
"No, and I thought you couldn't speak Japanese," the taller of the two teens said as he dusted his coat off.   
"I, can't..." she started puzzled. "But, I swear you're using English," she said as she looked back to him.   
"And I say it's Japanese..."   
"There are no language barriers here, you can understand everyone with ease," Yami's voice called out before he was seen. "I've lost Bakura, I've no idea what he may have done to you Sarah, but we have to get out of here. Too much time here can't be good on the lot of you," Yami said as he extended a hand first to help Sarah up then Yugi. Jou declined and got to his feet on his own.   
"Hey, wait a sec," he said before tapping Sarah on the shoulder. "Look, I know I came off as rude before. Just wanna say I'm sorry. But could you at least smile a little or something, not look so dark?" he asked.   
The woman gave him a small smile in return, "Apology accepted," she said happily. "And I'm sorry if I came off as rude, I was just a bit annoyed is all."   
"No sweat, I've been told I have that effect on people," he said as he shot a glare to Honda. The other teen laughed and held his hands up innocently. "I'll try to be nicer from now on though, since yer in danger an all that."   
"Thanks, I think," the woman replied as she rubbed the back of her head.   
  
_Yami was much better about realm shifts than Bakura had been. We shifted back into the house, he nor is counterpart Ryou were to be found. I was still dizzy and weak on my feet. It was a might bit annoying to learn Honda and Jounouchi could no longer communicate with me and vise versa, because I felt extremely guilty for having to lean on the both of them from time to time. We managed to get back to the Game Shop. Mr. Mutou was a bit mortified when I returned in my horrible condition. He knew of the Ryou/Bakura thing so no fast lies had to be made up. For my own protection, everyone said it would be best if I not saw Ryou again for quite some time. Though it felt wrong to un-include him, I could see where they were coming from._   
  
"No, I'm fine. Please Yugi, could you tell Jounouchi he doesn't have to wait on me hand and foot or fill my glass once it's empty? Ask him to just sit down and take a breather, I'm fine," the woman muttered as she peeked out from under the cold cloth she had over her eyes. Her head was killing her and she found the constant doting over her to be annoying. Jou apparently thought he would do everything as a way to make up for being rude, but it was testing Sarah patience.   
"He said he just wants to help, but doesn't know what he can do so this'll work," Yugi translated.   
"There is one thing," the woman said as she sat up, she stretched and then rubbed her shoulders. "What you gave me for my head isn't as strong as it could be, if Jou wants to do something he could rub my shoulders and neck." The woman slid off the bed and sat next to it as Yugi relayed what she had said to Jou, the teen nodded and sat behind her before working fingers into tight muscles.   
"Not so hard," she grunted. "And if hands get tired use your knuckles in a circular motion," she said, once Yugi had translated Jou eased up a bit.   
  
"If she wants, your grandpa has offered to make an herbal tea. It would help relax her and relieve a bit of the stiffness she has," Honda said once Yugi joined him in the kitchen.   
"I think she'll be fine, I'll pitch her the idea but she's having Jounouchi rub her shoulders at the moment."   
"She got him to sit still?" the other teen laughed.   
"For now at least, maybe if she makes him do it long enough he'll leave her alone. She was getting a bit annoyed with the attention."   
"Yeah, think I heard her grumble something before you came out." Honda took a sip from what he had and munched on a cracker. "So, how's Sarah's company been? She always seems to be down."   
"She is, I would say it's because she's so far from home but I don't know. Just looks like she's been that way for a long while."   
"Anything we could do to make her stay better?" Honda asked as he chewed nosily.   
"Just be the friends she could use at the moment," Yugi shrugged.   
"That's do-able."   
  
"Thank you, Jounouchi. You can stop now, and it helped," the woman said as she slid away from the younger teen. He understood the thank you and nodded in return. He poked her gently then let her be once he got the smile he was looking for. The blonde offered the woman his hand so she could stand. She took it and followed him to where Yugi and Honda sat.   
"How you feeling?" Yugi asked.   
"Much better, Jou's rub helped tremendously. My migraine is now just a tiny annoyance of a headache," she replied. Yugi translated for her and Jou posed as if he had just done something heroic, this elicited a laugh from Sarah.   
  
The other two spent the rest of the afternoon with Yugi. Anzu got off work late that afternoon and swung by. She was a little upset no one had taken the time to inform her of what had happened, even if she was at work. The girl complained about it being slow and easily getting off if they had of called. The bruises on Sarah's face were so minor, that by the time Anzu arrived they had just about vanished. Her arm would be tender for a while though.   
  
Shortly before everyone was about to part ways for the evening, Ryou arrived. He was lead to where everyone was, but was watched carefully.   
"I know something happened earlier, and though I don't know what I want to say I'm sorry. I didn't mean for any harm to come to you," the boy said as he lowered his eyes. He had the most angelic look to his face at the moment.   
"It's ok, really. I don't blame you at all, Ryou," Sarah replied. Shyly, the teen looked up, he gave a meek smile when he saw the sincerity in her eyes.   
"Thank you. I just black out all the time, never knowing what's going on. It worries me, and I don't like to think I've been the reason for harm," he said.   
"I'm not going to let this keep me from talking to you. Just that we're always going to have to be around everyone else," she stated. Yugi and Anzu nodded, once informed Honda and Jou did the same.   
"Thank you again, and I think I should depart. Don't wish to overstay my welcome. Good evening, and once again I'm sorry."   
Good-byes were exchanged as others decided to take their leave as well. The sun was just beginning to set but already most were tired.   
  
Yugi squirmed and let out another short bark of laughter before trying in vain to get away from his captor.   
"Tickle me will you? I'll show you!" Sarah said in a mock threat as she kept up her assault.   
"Mercy, mercy!" Yugi giggled as tears began to form in his eyes.   
"Mercy? NEVER!" the woman laughed. "This is such a nice change, normally I'm the one on the receiving end."   
"Oh really?" Yugi's voice had become a bit deeper.   
"EEP!" the woman cried as she scrambled off. With Yami playing now things could go either way and she didn't want to break her no-tickle streak yet. She didn't get far when the spirit grabbed her ankle and tugged. "Watch it, don't want carpet burns," she laughed as she tugged back.   
"Hm, tug-of-war using a leg. Better watch it, I could get kicked." With that, Yami released his hold on the woman. She laughed and sat up on the floor where she looked back to the spirit.   
"Makes me nervous when you sit so still like that," she said. Yami didn't reply, in fact he seemed zoned out. "Hey, you ok?" she asked as she scooted back over to him. "Yami?" the woman waved her hand in front of his face, nothing. "Hey?" she flicked his nose gently. Still no reaction. "Err..." she jabbed him in the ribs. "You do make a nice statue, you know."   
  
A minute or so passed with no reaction, puzzled the woman simply got up and walked off. A jingle behind her got her attention, and as she turned she saw Yami sailing at her. "No tackles! ACK!" she was bowled over the arm of the couch and her attacker flipped off before assaulting her with a barrage of tickles.   
"Hey! No fair!" she laughed and squirmed.   
"Thought you could keep me down, huh?" The tone sounded like Yami but the words were more like Yugi's. The two must be acting as one at the moment. After a bit of squirming the woman had positioned herself in a way so she could grab both Yami's wrists. She stuck her tongue out as she sat up. She made the mistake of letting the spirit go once she was on her feet and he tackled again. This time he sat square on her back.   
"I hope your comfy," she said as she propped herself up on her elbows.   
"Not really, kinda bony," he wiggled about as if he was trying to get comfortable.   
"Bum," the woman laughed before she tried to get to her hands and knees. Yami braced his hands on her shoulder blades as the woman lurched about.   
"Why do I have the sudden urge to yell out 'Pony ride, giddy-up!'?" the spirit laughed.   
"Oh you're such a big kid!" Sarah exclaimed as she began to stand. She looped arms behind Yami's knees as he wrapped his arms around her neck. "Too tight," she gasped.   
"Sorry."   
"I hope I'm not going to have to play the part of babysitter for you two children," Mr. Mutou said with an amused look on his face.   
"He started it!"   
"She started it!" They said in unison.   
"You do know what you're acting like, don't you?"   
"Five year olds?" Sarah replied.   
"Nope, think about it for a moment," he winked as he turned the water on to wash his hands.   
"Oh," came the double reply as Sarah put Yami down.   
"Jou thought the same thing," Sarah wrinkled her nose.   
"It's just you seem so comfortable around one another. It's easy to see it that way," Mr. Mutou shrugged.   
"Guess it's my fault, think I'm letting the fan-girl attitude get me," Sarah shrugged.   
"Nice to unwind once in a while, though," Yami chuckled before he relinquished his hold to Yugi again.   
"It's also fun to feel like a kid again," Yugi beamed.   
"You two start throwing food, I'll have you sleep on the floor of the shop," Mr. Mutou waved a finger about. "On the other hand, I'm more than relieved to see you doing so well, considering your current situation."   
"It helps keep my mind off it, now that I think about it."   
"Maybe tomorrow you and everyone should take a visit to an amusement park or such. Do something together and outside so you aren't cooped up inside again."   
"Anzu's got tomorrow off, we'd all be together."   
"As long as Ryou comes too." She got a puzzled look from both the guys. "Bakura is someone different and I'm not going to let him ruin things for Ryou, so there," the woman crossed her arms.   
"It's sweet you're so forgiving, but don't let your guard down or Bakura might strike again," Mr. Mutou warned.   
"I'll be fine, really. As long as Yugi is around," she ruffled the teen's hair again, he protested and straightened it back into it's gravity defying shape. "And I should probably do laundry tomorrow too. I don't have much along the lines of clothing with me."   
"No problem at all, the machine is in that little recess between the rooms."   
  
"Caught ya fair and square!" the woman exclaimed as she slung the smaller figure over her shoulder. Yugi took to poking her in the back in an effort to free himself. "Sneak tickle attacks," she muttered comically.   
"Well I waited for an hour after dinner at least!" he protested. "Blood's starting to go to my head, let me down please?"   
"So long as I don't get another attack, I've left you alone so far," she reminded him.   
"I promise," he replied.   
"What about Yami?"   
A pause.   
"He says he promises too and hopes next time you forget you have to get an answer from two so he can do a sneak attack," there was a laugh. "I wasn't supposed to say that last part," he admitted.   
"A deal's a deal," she un-slung the figure and set him down on the bed. Standing on it he was taller than her. He made such a big deal about it too. Suddenly his brows furrowed as he thought about something.   
"Sarah?" he began as he sat down.   
"Hm?" she replied as she sat beside him.   
"Is this what it's like to have a big sister?" he asked, turning his face up to her.   
She smiled, "I don't know. I am a big sister, oldest of three. I know how it is to be one, but not how it is to have one."   
"What are your siblings like?" Yugi seemed very interested in it now.   
"Well, my sister is fifteen, the youngest of us. She's the one with the seizures, and because of them she's a bit slower than she should be. She's at a lower level mentally. As for my brother, he's eighteen now. He doesn't really act it, that and we hardly see him. He's out all the time. A few years back he ended up in the hospital from a drug overdose, scared the crap out of us. I'm pretty sure he still does the stuff, I know he drinks too. Legal drinking age where I'm from is twenty one, my age. Personally, I hate alcohol. Had the chance to try stuff before, nasty I think. As for my sibs, it's nice to have someone around closer to your age. Also kind of funny when they get some of the same teachers you had. Teachers normally expected a lot from my sibs because I did so well. Math I bombed, but did good in everything else."   
"Having a brother or a sister is like always having a friend around?"   
"Pretty much, except for when you don't see eye-to-eye. We had a habit of stealing things from one another. Got to the point eventually that our names would be scrawled on everything. We did it ourselves, no less. But yeah, you can use them as a friend if no one else is available at the time."   
"I wish I had a sibling, would have been nice."   
"Sometimes, Yugi. Sometimes. There are times where either you or them wants to be left alone to do your own thing. And usually this includes going out with their friends, they don't want you around. Younger siblings always had a habit of wanting to tag along with the older ones."   
"Would you have done that if we were brother and sister?" he asked.   
"Most likely, yes. Younger siblings seem to embarrass older ones when they're at a certain age. My sister still likes to tag along with me and it gets annoying at times. Then again, for some reason folks seem to think I'm her mom and not sister."   
"That must be weird," the teen wrinkled his nose.   
"Very, apparently I look older than what I am."   
"Don't get mad, but you do. You just look so tired and I think that's what does it."   
"It is, been this way for years and I have no idea why."   
"Well, maybe I should let you get some sleep, since when I called earlier everyone settled on a morning hour to meet; you'll need sleep," the tri-colored hair boy said as he hopped of the bed.   
"I'll shower then head off to bed, gotta go now before your grandfather goes to bed. Don't want to keep anyone up."   
  
_Apparently at some time during my shower his grandfather had gone to bed, the door to his room was pulled to when I got out. The TV was on, volume down low. Again Yugi had fallen asleep sitting up; I guess he might have been waiting on me. Once more I pulled his feet up and slid him down a bit. Violet eyes fluttered open and he smiled as I tugged up the covers._   
  
"Thought it was you that covered me last night. Thank you," he said quietly.   
"No problem kiddo," she replied and pat his shoulder. She hesitated a moment then stooped down to kiss his forehead. "Sweet dreams, see you in the morning. And thank you for being so kind to me. You, your grandfather, Yami and everyone else."   
"You're welcome. Oh, wait, come back," he waved her back. The boy sat up and kissed her forehead in return. "That was from my other half, he says you needed it."   
"Well tell him thank you for me and that I wish him sweet dreams as well."   
"He already knows, now goodnight to you too. Rest well."   
  
_At this rate he's going to have me in tears. They've been so wonderful to me, this has really become another home for me. But I miss my other home, friends and family. It saddened me to think that I would have to leave this new set of friends behind to return to the old. I would had loved to keep both, but fate is cruel and says I can't have both. Blah. I took a moment more to watch Yugi get settled, before he turned the TV off I saw a glint of bright eyes as he looked to where I was standing in the doorway, I smiled back and closed the door. Such a cute kid, his comment on the sister thing was touching; I'd love to have him as a brother. Be a package deal, Yami would technically be my brother as well. They'd both be wonderful brothers._


	6. Chapter 6

I had to throw something a bit more light hearted in because things are gonna get a bit darker in a bit, so yeah ;;   
  
Yu-Gi-Oh! characters and everything related is (c) Kazuki Takahashi   
  


* * *

  
  
The shake came again and she grunted before half heartedly swatting at the annoyance. It came again, now she could feel the pressure applied by the annoyance. A few more moments passed and she could determine the size of the object and identified it as a hand. Her eyes opened, the room was a big blur due to the fact her contacts weren't in. But the outline before her was unmistakable.   
"I was beginning to think I would need backup. You swatted at me a few times," the teen teased.   
"Did I miss?"   
"Yeah."   
"Damn," she grinned as she sat up.   
"Funny," he replied. Sarah couldn't be sure but she thought she saw him stick his tongue out.   
"Watch it or I'll take that from you," she mumbled as she stood.   
"I thought you said you were blind, how did you see that?" he asked in utter confusion.   
"Call it a feeling."   
"I'm going to shower now. We've got about an hour and a half till the others arrive and we head out. That enough time? I should have asked last night..."   
"Already showered, so it's enough," the woman nodded.   
"Breakfast will be ready soon, Yugi," Mr. Mutou's voiced called from the kitchen. "I believe they were going to an amusement park, are you fond of them?"   
"I love the roller coasters," the woman smiled as she got a glass of milk.   
"Yugi's a bit short for most so I'd say you're going to spend the day with his other half so he isn't left out on some of the more popular rides."   
"I was just wondering about that."   
  
Time passed quickly and fairly quite, Mr. Mutou hummed to himself as he made breakfast and Sarah retuned to the bedroom to dress.   
"Wait, she's dressing in there," Mr. Mutou warned as Yugi's small hand grasped the doorknob.   
"Don't worry," the woman said as the door swung open. "I'm done. All yours," she stepped out to let the towel clad youth reclaim his room.   
"Toast or not?" the elder asked.   
"Mm, sounds good but I don't want to overdo it. The eggs and hash browns are just fine," she replied as she shoved her wallet into her pocket and straightened the chains. About then Yugi emerged from the bedroom dressed in simple jeans and t-shirt. The Puzzle he always had about his neck went nicely with the dark colors he had donned. "Most comfortable thing to wear, I say," the woman smiled.   
  
After eating, Sarah finished getting ready by washing her face and brushing her teeth. While she had the toothbrush in her mouth still the others arrived. Always it seemed to be fascinating to watch others when they brushed. Eventually Sarah just closed the door, leaving Yugi and her alone in the bathroom. Jou was teasing she assumed, and it was getting laughs from everyone besides Anzu. The other girl giggled occasionally but was mainly quiet.   
"What do you say to attacking Jou with toothbrushes before they're rinsed?" the woman asked as she spit. Yugi only gave a slight laugh before he did the same.   
"I value my toothbrush," the teen laughed.   
"Good point, toilet brush then?"   
"NO!" Yugi giggled insanely. "We'd have to wait on him to change and then we wouldn't be in there at the opening."   
"Ok, good reason." The woman opened the door again as she rinsed her mouth out and made sure to fling water from her hand at Jou and whoever else happened to be in the way. Ryou made a big show about getting sprinkled.   
"Everyone ready?" Yami asked as he stepped out of the bathroom, it scared Sarah slightly.   
"Warn me, please! You do that too much," she complained.   
"Surprises keep you on your feet," the spirit tilted his head as he tried to make a serious face. But the glare he was getting from the taller woman made him crack a smile. He asked Honda and Jou if they were ready before the group departed. Mr. Mutou wished them all a good time and to be safe.   
  
"We're taking the bus, it's always empty at this time on Sundays. Later is a different story," Anzu said.   
  
_Oooh, bus. Fun. I had bad memories of public transportation from college. My apartment was about two miles from the school. Had no car so I would have to catch a ride with someone else or use the bus. Well, a few times the bus wouldn't stop. Mainly when I was alone at the stop. I happened to go to school in a rich neighborhood and well, I didn't look rich. Guess they thought me to be a trouble maker and didn't want to stop. When I was with a group, things were fine. On my own they never stopped. I walked a few times, right next to a major street with traffic jams at all hours but 3am to 5am._   
  
Jou cried out something as they boarded, Ryou said he had claimed the back and was currently making a mad dash towards it. Honda followed next then the rest. Only elderly persons were on at the moment, and in scattered seats. The group of teens with the lone woman were the loudest on the bus.   
  
"So what's this place like?" Sarah asked as she leaned over the back of the seat she and Anzu shared, Anzu was already facing the back.   
"Typical park. Not a theme park like America though, so prices are actually within reason," Ryou answered from across the aisle. As if he understood her question, Jou began to make hand movements akin to the course of a rollercoaster.   
"He says he's going to take you on the biggest one just to see how loud you scream," Yami relayed.   
"Tell him I don't scream," the woman beamed. Jou shook his head and said something.   
"He bets you do," Anzu giggled.   
"If he takes to poking me, I'll bite his fingers off or something."   
Ryou translated and Jou protectively crammed his hands in his pockets, resulting in a laugh from the whole group.   
"Honda wants to know what rides you won't go near so he can keep Jou from tricking you onto one," Ryou asked.   
"Anything that spins, I hate that stuff with a passion. Get sick as I can be," the woman replied as a tire swing incident from kindergarten came to mind.   
"You and me both," the light haired teen replied before he informed Honda of the woman's answer.   
  
The ride was about forty-five minuets, if not for all the stops the bus made it might have been only half an hour. The gates of the park already had families lined up waiting to get in. Being that it was during the school season and on a weekend, the crowd was to be expected. It was also a tourist spot apparently, Sarah caught dozens of scattered English conversation. Anzu giggled and had Sarah look to one man holding a book.   
"He's trying to ask the security guard if there is a reduced rate for children, only he asked if his son could buy the guard." Sarah laughed as well before Anzu stopped to answer the man's question. He felt highly embarrassed when the teen informed him of what he originally said.   
"Oh! I should have left my chains back at Yugi's, I'll never get in with these, hope they have a security place I can check them at," Sarah mumbled as she went to remove her wallet and keys from it.   
"Actually, you should get in fine. Trust me, I've seen persons with far worse wandering around in there before," Anzu assured her.   
"We'll I'll wait then," the woman replied as she pocketed her wallet again.   
"Hey you two, you going to stand around out there or would you like to join us inside?" Ryou called from where he and the other guys had just picked up admission tickets.   
"Who paid? I owe em," Sarah said once she and Anzu had caught up.   
"No, I took care of it, don't worry," Ryou shook his head. "And you too, Anzu. No need to repay me, you've paid for me before and always refused it when I'd offer to repay, so this will work."   
"Well, thank you," Sarah smiled.   
"See, you always find a way to repay me, even if I refuse," Anzu giggled.   
"Just don't feel right without doing so," he shrugged.   
Sarah was jerked forward by Jou, anxious to get into the park and get her on the largest coaster. "He's going to pull my arm off if he doesn't watch it," she scowled.   
"Don't fight him, it'll go easier. He doesn't bite," Yami chuckled.   
"No but I'm afraid he's going to try and get me on a spinning ride."   
  
_What do you know, Anzu was right. I got past the ticket check easily, no one asked me to remove the chains. I did slide them into my pocket though, just so they weren't dangling about. Jou still had me by the arm, we were acting as leaders for the group as he dragged us off somewhere. Anzu was right, the place looked about like a theme park, only no character art all over the place. There were plenty of game booths, prizes such as stuffed animals and other things you could win at such a place. I glanced at one shop I think it was, selling oddly decorated cowboy hats. I had a feeling we'd stop in there later, but I was going to avoid it if at all possible._   
  
"Jou, where are we heading?" Honda asked the blonde teen.   
"To a ride, duh," he replied.   
"But it looks like you're heading off to that spinning thing. She won't be too happy you know," Honda reminded him.   
"Yuug and the others won't let me, don't worry. And there _are_ other rides in that area you know."   
"Won't let you what?" Yami asked.   
"Trick her into getting on a spinning ride. Besides, I just got her to be friendly. You think I'd do something stupid like that?"   
"Yes," Honda snorted.   
"Why thank you so much," Jou rolled his eyes.   
  
_I had fun with them, language wasn't a problem. Laughter, smiles and hand movements told all. We had a blast, running around from ride-to-ride and playing games here and there. As much as I would have loved to have kept the giant mouse thing I won, I wasn't home and had no place to put it. I ended up giving it to Anzu, but the day wasn't yet over so we ended up passing the huge thing between each other up until when we left.   
  
We were worn out by then, a long day of laughing and playing tends to do that. But the day wasn't over yet, not by a long shot. Jou insisted we go to the game booth that had the wildly colored cowboy hats as prizes. Yami pretty much confirmed my thoughts when he said Jou was going to win one for me. I told him he didn't have to, but Jou's mind was set on it. At least he picked out a decent one, it was purple with leopard spots on it. Kinda reminded me more of a pimp hat, but I wore it anyway to humor him. Ryou thought it was the funniest thing in the world, until I decided to try my hand at the game and got a bright green one for him. Anzu said Yami would look hysterical in one, if we could get it to sit over his hair at least. Well that wouldn't work so we instead got Honda to wear the hot pink thing, but we did find a place that had these outrageously huge suit of armor helmets made of foam. That worked, I had never seen Yami look so disgusted when we managed to talk him into wandering around in it. I wish I had a camera... Jou and Anzu were all that was left without some silly form of head gear. Anzu was currently hauling the stuffed animal around so that worked. Jou however, well we got him to strut around with a feathered Indian like head dress proclaiming he was a turkey. He continued with the turkey act even after we got back on the bus. This time it was almost full which really made for a good laugh.   
  
Honda got in on the fun then, he proclaimed himself a pimp and that Ryou and I were his 'associates.' Ryou was mortified, the poor boy turned eleven shades of red. Honda went on to say he was a she and still very shy. Ryou tried so hard to shrink away. I was ever so grateful everyone knew we were just joking around. This time the bus ride was to take everyone home. The route dropped Honda and Jou off first; I thanked the two for a wonderful time and eventually convinced Jou he could drop the turkey act. Honda was still amused with his hot pink hat and decided to wear it as they walked off. Anzu's stop was next, Yami and I were the next to get off as Ryou still had a piece left. He got off with us though. Only, it wasn't him. We knew the moment the hat he had sailed through the air and pegged Yami in the back. Both of us turned, Yami pulled the foam helmet off his head and immediately stepped in front of me._   
  
"Come now Pharaoh. I know you're just as curious about what her world holds as I am."   
"Of course I am, there's no denying that."   
"And you just want the information for yourself, to regain everything you know you've lost. Am I not right?" A slightly wicked grin played at the corners of Bakura's lips as he flipped a stray strand of hair from his eyes.   
Yami didn't answer, he narrowed his eyes and stepped forward some.   
"Oh, no answer? You are, aren't you? You're wanting her for your own reasons. See that's the difference between you and I, you are acting totally innocent about this and will most likely drag it out. I on the other hand have made my agenda clear and won't pussy foot around the issue. I'll take what I need and be done with her."   
"I can't allow any harm to come to her or for information to be let out."   
A loud bark of laughter sounded, Bakura's head was thrown back and his arms were clutched at his sides. He lowered his head, his eyes wild and near insane. "Of course you can't! Should anyone get it before you then you can't have it yourself. Greedy little Pharaoh, deceitful little Pharaoh. When will you come to terms with the fact you are the same as I?" he cocked his head to the side, the unsettling smile still etched into his features.   
"I am not and never will be. Yes I want to learn what her world has to offer, but at the same time I can't and won't. It's not meant to be known to us."   
"Then why is she here, hmm? She serves some point, why isn't this it?"   
"Does there have to be a reason? Maybe it was just a fluke, maybe it's got something to do with something back home," Sarah spoke up at last.   
"Like what?" Bakura snorted.   
"I don't know! Something! If I did know then maybe I wouldn't be in this mess," she hissed in return.   
"Of course not, you would have scampered off at the first sign of trouble. Then this would all be over, no reason to become interested in a visitor. But that's the beauty of it, to get back home eventually you will give in and someone will find out what the Pharaoh doesn't want known. And then they can use it against the both of us." Bakura shot Yami a hateful glare.   
"What makes you think getting back home is that big of a worry for me?"   
  
_Honestly, in a way I didn't want to go back. Why? I had become bored with everything, I didn't want a part of life there. But here, here I could start over. Make a new life with all new challenges and rewards. Here, I had reason to get out and be something. A whole new world that was so much more interesting that what I had known. The cons were many in number, but I was willing to try here anyway. That attitude would come in handy should I not be able to get back home..._   
  
"There you go again with that false bravery. Tell me, do you think others actually buy it? You're alone, all alone. Within time the Pharaoh and his twerp's caretaker will see you as a burden and cast you aside. None of his friends would do any good and then you'd be out here on your own, where I could--"   
"That's enough, Tomb Raider. You will not instill doubt on her heart, no one is going to turn their backs on her. Leave here now, let it be. There is nothing to be gained."   
Bakura took a idle step to the side where he furrowed his brow in thought. "For once, you are correct. She's had too much time to build up defenses. Probably churning out more of her fairy tale to make me sift through to even get to what I want. I'll take my leave for now, but you know as well as I do it's not over." His gaze shifted, to behind Yami. "Pleasant dreams, child," he said lowly to the woman.   
"Start walking," Yami said without turning around.   
"But..."   
"Just go, it's only a block from here. I'll be right behind you."   
"Fine," the woman sighed as she stooped to pick up the head gear both Yami and Bakura had discarded.   
  
_What else could I do? I walked off, casting a glance over my shoulder every once in a while. The two stood there, Bakura was watching me and Yami's back was turned. Why me? Why was I the one to end up here when there were a million other persons who knew far more about this world? And on top of that, how was I found out? I certainly didn't tell Bakura, nor did Yami. How does he know? Who else does? There is absolutely nothing special about me at all, besides what they think I can do for them. I went from being a total recluse to most wanted almost overnight, and this wasn't a normal hunt at all. I was in so much danger and I had no choice. I didn't ask for it, I didn't even stumble into it. I was **placed** here, and what for? To stir up trouble for these entities that I just happened to know slightly more about than the normal person from around here? No, that can't be it. Bakura was right, there is a reason. I mean, it's not like getting drunk and taking the bus to another state, no. This is bigger, much bigger. Something had to be done, someone somewhere did something to get me here. But how and why? And do I even want to know? My train of thought stopped when I felt something wavier inside me, it was a feeling like I had forgotten something and part of me was trying to remind me. I glanced over my shoulder once more, Yami and Bakura were gone. Presumably to the Shadow Realm. My pace hurried, I knew full well that one or both would be irritable when they returned. At least the Game Shop would be some form of safety._   
  
"What do you know that I don't?" Yami demanded as he grabbed the Tomb Raider by the collar of his shirt.   
"Perhaps nothing, it could just be a feeling I have," Bakura said smoothly he easily knocked the Pharaoh's hands off his person.   
"I doubt that, you have to know something to have known about her before you were otherwise informed."   
Bakura gave an annoyed sigh and shoved the Ring into the Pharaoh's face. "Have we forgotten already? Just because you lack proper knowledge about how to use that Puzzle of yours doesn't mean everyone is as slow to learn about their Items."   
"And just what have you learned?" Yami asked as he brushed the Ring away.   
Bakura let it fall back against his chest as he began to circle the other spirit. "Wouldn't you like to know," he chuckled darkly.   
"Ah, so I was wrong. You don't know anything more, you're just pretending you do." Now Yami smiled.   
"Jumping to conclusions. I'm ashamed of you, Pharaoh," Bakura shook his head.   
"No, if you knew more then why do you still need her?"   
"Because she's the key, idiot!" Bakura snapped.   
"She's said it herself, she knows very little about anything."   
"A key needs to know only one thing, the lock it is assigned to. She can't give me what I want, she can only open the door for me. That is all she is, nothing more and nothing less."   
"And you don't wonder exactly how she got here, or just why she is?"   
"Does it matter? She can lead you to knowledge, and what's that they say about knowledge? Oh yes, that it is power. Power, Pharaoh. Power that I will wield."   
"Nothing comes without a price," Yami said bluntly.   
"No, it doesn't. But I could easily skirt it."   
"How, unless you know what the price would be. What if it was your soul, what would you have then?"   
"If anything the price will be her life, destruction of the key. Once I have what I need, then she can die for all I care."   
"And if you are stuck there, how would your knowledge help you?"   
"Well I'd have to change things, it might slow me down but not stop me."   
"You seem confident that nothing would stand in your way."   
"Fool, what I already know and what I am will help me."   
"So you think this punishment or price is aimed towards a mortal? Tell me, then, why it seems to appeal to just us? Would it not make sense that the price would also be aimed at us?"   
"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. I'm not foolish, if that's what you're thinking. I can and will get out of anything that might arise."   
"I don't doubt your ability. I doubt the value of what you are so eagerly seeking." Before another word could be said, Yami pulled his essence out of the Shadow Realm.   
  
"I'm not going to let you be alone anymore. Yugi and I will be in the room at night as well," Yami said once he closed the bedroom door.   
"What happened out there?" the woman asked as she folded up the foam helmet.   
"The usual with him. But he is determined to have you show him what he wants. Naturally, I can't allow it. I have my doubts of it's value, what worries me is your safety. I'm lost and confused on this, something doesn't feel right. You're out of place, and it just seems too convenient that you would come here knowing what you do. Bakura can't seem to see that, he just wants what you can give him. I want to know the full story."   
"So do I. Look, I'm sorry for any trouble I have caused and most likely will cause. It wasn't my choice to be here, I don't know why I am or how. I have enjoyed most of my time here, the rest has been spent scared out of my mind. I'm just as lost as you, and being that I seem to be so important scares me even more. I don't like it when others seem to know more about my situation than I do."   
"Now you have an understanding of how I felt when you told me what you know," Yami raised a brow. "In any event, I'll talk with you later. I've said all I feel the need to and I've kept my other half repressed long enough."   
"So... you don't mind me camping in here? I'll be on the floor, of course," Yugi asked.   
"Your company will be welcome. Bakura's really scaring me now," the woman replied.   
"Things will turn out alright in the end. Don't worry. But for now let's get something to eat. I'm sure Grandpa would love to hear about our day."   
"Only if you greet him wearing this!" the woman laughed as she pulled the folded foam helmet out.   
"It'll swallow me!" Yugi laughed.   
"That's the point. I just want to see how much."   
"Up to my shoulders," came the small teen's muffled reply.   
  
"Psst, Yugi. Quit tugging the sheets off the bed," a grumpy and groggy voice said before reclaiming the missing cloth.   
"Muh, sorry," the sluggish reply sounded.   
"Dude, if your cold I'll just give you the top cover thing. I don't really need it," Sarah yawned as she leaned over to peer at the floor.   
"Would you? I forgot it's always cooler on the floor," he grunted as he sat up.   
"All yours." The woman tugged quickly and deposited the thick cover on the smaller figure.   
"Thanks," he muttered as he curled up under it.   
"No prob, and thanks for camping with me. Makes me feel better."   
"That's the idea," he chuckled.   
"Yugi?"   
"Hrm?"   
"Can I speak to Yami for a moment, or would he prefer I wait till morning?"   
"Now's fine," a considerably deeper voice said. The slight figure on the floor rolled over and propped himself up on an elbow. He moved a fringe of blonde hair out of his face and turned crimson eyes up to the bed.   
"This is going to sound odd, but I had a bad dream. Nightmare, actually. I get em a lot, heh. Anyway, I just felt the need to mention this to you, cuz I don't know if it means anything or not. It was about Bakura, and it felt so real; like he was there. You wouldn't happen to know if he could get into a person's dreams, would you? He taunted me, tortured me. It was... graphic. And well, now I _don't_ want to go back to sleep lest it come again."   
There was a pause then a slight rustle as the Pharaoh rose to sit on the bed. "I honestly don't know, Sarah. I want to pass it off as nothing more than a nightmare, seeing as how you _are_ an artist you have a wild imagination. But it is Bakura we're talking about." He moved an elegant hand up to her face and paused for moment before resting it against her forehead, then he moved his cool hand to her cheek and finally neck. "No fever that I can find. I think you're ok. Would you let me try something else?"   
"What?" she quirked a brow at him.   
"Close your eyes and just relax."   
She stared at him blankly for a moment then cocked her head to the side.   
"Relax, I just need you to let me search for something. The tiniest trace of residual magic or outside influence. But I need your cooperation, so your defenses need to be lowered or down."   
"Alright, I think I can go that." She took a moment to ready herself before she granted him access.   
  
_There was an odd sensation as he made his way into my mind. Though, he was far gentler than Bakura had been. Yami was, well, friendlier and didn't push his way in. He waited for me to let him through barriers and let me know what he was doing as he did it. It was kinda cool, to hear his voice inside my head and to be able to respond without opening my mouth. He pulled out as neatly as he had gone in, not wanting to disturb anything._   
  
"I didn't find a trace of tampering. You most likely dreamed it up all by yourself." the Spirit of the Puzzle said at last.   
"Figured as much. Sometimes I hate my imagination."   
"Don't let any of this bother you too much, Bakura will take great pleasure in toying with you should he become aware of your skittishness."   
"I know, I know. It's hard, you know? Anyway, I should let you go back to sleep. Isn't the weekend over?" the woman asked before she began to gently push the Spirit's back.   
"Yes, it is. I don't want my other half to be worn out. But if you need either of us, just give a shake," he replied as he slid off the bed and back to the make-shift cot on the floor.   
"Thanks, rest well, Yami," she smiled.   
  
_When I awoke the next day, Yugi had departed for school and Mr. Mutou was busing himself with work in the shop, this left me some time to myself. I wanted to get out and walk a bit, Mr. Mutou was wary but said it was alright. He then gave me the number if I got lost and needed to call. Shouldn't be a problem, I didn't plan to walk too far and being in a strange place often leads to one paying more attention to surroundings.   
  
It was nice out, the weather was good and the temp was cool. This place was huge, I'm a small town girl so this intimidated me a bit. Ok, it scared me a lot. So many persons out and about, of course I couldn't understand a soul. Good thing I didn't need directions. I had remembered some of the places I had visited with Anzu and Yugi, so I went back that direction. There were a few game shops in the area, electronic games that is. I found it amusing when I found games I knew of. Apparently, this world was a parallel to mine. They had so much of the same stuff that was familiar to me. Not being able to buy anything didn't bother me, I'm a browser anyway. I found an art store however, I missed my supplies and I couldn't help it. I had to go in. I was determined to buy a few items and due to random conversations I had with persons, I could pick out good deals on prices for items. It seemed silly at the time asking about art supplies, but it came in handy now. I got a mechanical pencil with plenty of lead, a sketchbook and an artist's eraser. I love those things. I wanted colors, Prismacolor to be exact. But figured it was too much, so I got a few ebony pencils and other various soft lead pencils with a blender instead. I could at least work in black and white. Oh, and a pencil sharpener. Can't do without one of those. With everything purchased and bagged, I was on my way. I had eaten before I left, so there was no need to stop anywhere. I was actually awake before noon, it was amazing. The lunch rush started about then, persons breezing past me from businesses and the like. Got a bit hectic so I ducked into a comic book store for a while. They had things in a few languages, so I was able to find some English titles. Once things were slow again outside, I went about my way. I had to smile when I caught a familiar sight, Domino High school I think it was. Name might be something else, but who cares? There were a few benches outside the fence and a nice view of a park across the way. A good place to sit and draw for a bit. I had no idea how long I planned to stay. Might be a bit amusing to see the look on their faces if they saw me waiting for them after school. Well, depending on how long classes were.   
  
I didn't stay they whole afternoon. I did go back to the game shop for a bit but decided to head back out later. I sat myself on the same bench, it was near the main gates. I assumed everyone would head out that way so I was sure to catch someone. I got lost in a sketch, had snatched a loose card of Mammoth Graveyard and was working on that when a figure sat beside me. I glanced to the side quickly to catch the blue of the guy's school uniform. I raised my eyes to meet Ryou's face. He gave me a soft smile and pointed to my drawing._   
  
"That is very good. The shading on the bones makes it look almost like a black and white photograph."   
"Thanks, was a bit harder than I thought. I didn't want to copy the card, so I tried another view. I don't think the bone placement was done right."   
  
_He leaned in closer then, I started to feel very uncomfortable. I felt his breath near my ear and it dawned on me. Didn't see **that** coming. Hrm, sarcastic remarks sound funny when you think them. And didn't I already make that comment before?_   
  
"You're either very brave to come here alone, or you're beginning to see things my way," Bakura whispered fiercely.   
"Perhaps, who knows," the woman answered softly.   
Bakura pulled away and frowned. "You're getting better at it. Or cocky, hard to tell. But there are too many persons around," he said as he watched a few other schoolmates walk through the gates. He gave them a hard glare if they lingered too long in the area.   
"Tell me something," Sarah began as she closed the book and leaned back on the bench. "Are you all talk or will you ever do anything?"   
Bakura's brows furrowed momentarily before a twisted smile pulled at the corner of his lips. "You're really pushing it you know? Asking for it now and everything. Did you enjoy it last time? A sadistic one if so." His grin had widened considerably, amusement shown brightly in his eyes. "You are an interesting creature."   
"I get that a lot," she said as she stood. "Walk with me," she almost commanded as she began to stride off.   
  
_What the hell am I doing!? I'm like, teasing him or daring him to try something. I'm out of my damn mind, I swear. I like to sometimes toy with a person, string them along and humor them. But this time it's different, he'll see right through me and won't be pleased or amused at all. Oh well, I'll drag it out for a bit. Just to see what happens. And I'll get my ass kicked in the process, but oh well. You only live once._


	7. Chapter 7

  
Yu-Gi-Oh! characters and everything related is (c) Kazuki Takahashi   
  


* * *

  
Bakura kept his pace slightly ahead of the woman, his need to lead wouldn't let him be anywhere else. "Where to?" he asked simply.   
"I'm just walking, I have no idea."   
He glanced over his shoulder and laughed. "I could lead you anywhere I want if you're going to follow me."   
"I know."   
"And yet it doesn't bother you? I find that hard to believe."   
"I can be hard to predict."   
"You're a woman, somehow it doesn't seem all that awkward."   
"You want awkward?" she asked before threading her right arm through his left once what she carried had been shifted.   
"Ah, you're toying with me. Do you think it's funny?" his tone became dark and threatening.   
"Perhaps. Or maybe it's like you said, I'm beginning to see things your way. Being far from home often makes things seem worse than they are, maybe I'm wanting it all to be over and end all ready."   
"Do you have to be so clingy?" he growled.   
"Yes. You're leading after all and crowds are getting thicker. I'm totally at your mercy."   
"Yes, you are. Though once he understands what has happened the Pharaoh won't be too pleased. And if he learns you were the one that met with me," he trailed off and chuckled.   
"I'll get chewed out, possibly given up on. Big deal, not like I'd have anything to look forward to once you get what you want," Sarah shrugged.   
"I'm hurt," he began in mock sorrow. "You really think so little of me?"   
"I don't trust you as far as I could throw you."   
"Is that what the clinging is about, waiting for a throw?"   
"Do I look like I could do more than shove?" she muttered.   
"No, but I'd expect something of a fight. Not this," he motioned to her willingness.   
"If I fight now, I'll be too worn out when it counts."   
"You are learning," he chuckled. "Very well, it will be just that more fun to break you."   
"We'll see."   
"Oh I will, there's no doubt about that. I've had plenty of time to think of creative ways to break a soul."   
"I don't doubt that, may I ask a question?"   
"I suppose it won't hurt."   
"What aftershave or cologne are you wearing? I like it."   
There was silence then a sigh. "Still toying I see."   
"Real question, while you can easily push your way into a person's mind or soul, whatever you do, could they trap you there? I mean keep you from leaving."   
He gave her a strange look after stopping fast in his tracks. "I have met persons with minds far more powerful than yours and easily done away with them. If you are thinking you could turn this whole thing around against _me_, you are sorely mistaken."   
"An innocent question, I have a ton more I could ask. Just serve to annoy you with how much I'd pry," Sarah replied.   
  
Bakura prompted her to keep walking and before long a familiar sight came into view, the woman turned to the Spirit of the Ring and gave him an questioning look.   
"What? You were willing. I'll get what I need when I want, and it will be when you least expect it."   
"So all the odd twists and turns made were just to throw me off?"   
"Who says I couldn't play with you while you played with me?" he chuckled.   
"You're just going to walk me into the Game Shop like nothing happened, then?"   
"I won't," Bakura said before his features softened to Ryou's normal visage.   
"Oh my, how did we get here?"   
"You walked me back, remember? I folded up the sketchbook not long after you commented. I've been out all day and you didn't want to make me sit there longer than needed." An outright lie, but she didn't want to scare the youth.   
"Oh," he replied with a few blinks. "I don't remember..." he trailed off and motioned to the linked arms.   
"When you got a dizzy spell I offered to help support you if you needed," she replied simply. "You want me to walk you home? You insisted we go here and you'd be fine. But I don't know..."   
"No, no. I think I'll just come inside and sit down for a while, if they'll have me," the white haired teen replied. His face was still set in confusion with a light blush but he was taking what he was told as fact regardless.   
"Hey, you're ok so don't worry about it," the woman said in a soothing voice. "Now come on and sit down for a while, I'm sure Yugi is worried about me not being around when he got back."   
  
_Yugi wasn't even there, Mr. Mutou said he had gone looking for me, fearing the worst. I promised I wouldn't go out again without an escort, I was going to have a lot of apologizing to do once Yugi returned. But for now, I had to reassure Ryou he was ok. Mr. Mutou reluctantly returned to the shop while we remained in the living room. We talked a bit, Ryou steadily began to get more comfortable and eventually was acting like nothing had happened. Which was good, I liked the kid and didn't want him to feel awkward in my company._   
  
"So after I made sure I had put all his underwear in the freezer my brother was left without any clean unfrozen ones. I didn't think far enough ahead to the fact he could instantly thaw a pair in the microwave the next morning. So my April Fools prank didn't go very far," the woman laughed as she finished her story.   
"Interesting concept, how did this April Fools come into play?" Ryou asked as he took another drink.   
"I honestly don't know. It's not a real big thing, only a few people take advantage of the prankster's holiday."   
There was the sound of familiar voices from the shop before a mad dash of many sets of feet into the living room.   
  
"I'm sorry, it's my fault she wasn't here. I met her where she sat and apparently got dizzy, she helped me walk back here," Ryou apologized once he caught sight of Yami's mixed emotions. He had chosen to speak in Japanese so Jou and Honda could understand as well.   
"Man, you guys had us scared outta our minds. Please, never do that again," Jou said as he scrubbed his hands in his hair.   
"I'm sorry," Ryou repeated as he lowered his head.   
"Nothing happened?" Yami questioned. Ryou knew full well what he meant.   
"I don't think so. She didn't say."   
"That would be a first," Honda raised a brow.   
"Just be thankful nothing did happen," Anzu answered.   
"Yes, very thankful," Yami murmured as he cast an unsure glance towards Sarah. The woman stiffened a bit under his gaze. "Jou, Honda? Would you two walk Ryou home, I want to make absolutely sure nothing happened," the Spirit of the Puzzle said.   
"Um, I'll just wait in the Shop," Anzu excused herself.   
  
The room cleared out fairly quickly, a final thank you aimed for Sarah came from Ryou before he and his escorts departed.   
Yami sighed and sat down across from the woman. "Did something happen?"   
"Yes, but I didn't want to worry Ryou with it. Bakura toyed with me after he found out I was toying with hi-"   
"You did _what_?" Yami barked, more in surprise than anger.   
"I was testing the waters. I wanted to get an idea of how much he knew or thought he knew by how quickly he would take things. He walked me around in circles just to wind up here. Told me he would try on his whim, not mine. So, all we did was talk about the issue and when he would try something. Other then that, nothing happened," she gave a small shrug.   
Yami shook his head and chuckled for a bit. "I suppose you caught him off guard. But don't do it again, please. There's something, rather someone else you might need to worry about. Bakura's a kitten compared to him."   
"Malik?"   
"I thought you said you only knew of events from Duelist Kingdom? This is well beyond that time frame."   
"I got ahead of myself, translations take a while but if you know where to look you can find the information. And I love kittens."   
"Funny, you know what I meant."   
"I know, but Bakura is a kitten. Play with him and he's docile. Though like a kitten, he can and will get tired of playing. Unlike a kitten, he's packing far more power and I don't want to be there when that play phase wears off."   
"Interesting analogy. Just don't rub his belly or anything."   
"You don't rub a kitten or cat's belly. Especially a male's. They take it as something a bit more... friendly."   
Silence.   
"Then really, don't. I have no idea just how the Tomb Robber would act."   
"Hmm, with what I know he'd probably lash out, use a few choice words and make it very clear that it should never happen again."   
"Or he might-"   
"No," Sarah cut him off. "No, do _not_ go there. Don't even think it. The thought scares me more than anything else he could do."   
  
"How did we get on the topic of cats then back to Bakura, again?"   
"One of those mysteries. You're simply not meant to know," Sarah chuckled.   
"Don't take this too lightly, now. It's just what he's looking for."   
"Don't worry, I'm not. There's quite a bit about me that is never shown. I take pride in that mysteriousness and unpredictability factor," she paused when she caught Yami's expression. "I take pride in it, but I don't view it as a failsafe in keeping my ass out of the fire. I will be careful, Yami. I promise. But I do want to go home, and I don't feel like what Bakura is searching for is worth it. He's willing to jump at this when I know it's pretty much just an altered log of history. How much use can that be? How would he, or anyone for that matter, know just what is made up and what is real if it did hint at future events? It's an act of blind faith, really."   
"Look at it this way. You are tempted with the promise of something. You know there's a probability it's worthless, yet you also know it could be of great value. Which part of yourself would you listen to?" Yami asked.   
"Depends on what it was, the more it appeals to me the more I would want it. I would be very upset if it was of no use to me but at least I wouldn't spend the rest of my days wondering if it really was what it was rumored to be."   
"That's just the answer I was looking for. Now, keep that in mind and add this next part to it. Possibly more than just the handful of us know who you are and where you came from. There could be others looking for you. Bakura said it best last time we exchanged words. You are a key, everyone wants this key and what it unlocks for themselves. It will become a race to see who can claim the prize you unlock. It's not necessarily you that's wanted, but the prize. You're only the stepping stone to it."   
"I... hadn't really thought of it that way. I suppose then it's not quite how I had it pictured. Hmm, so I really am disposable. Once that 'lock' is opened, that's it. No need for me."   
"To reassure you, if anyone is going to use you to unlock a door, it will be myself. My intentions are only to get you home. But I won't do this unless I'm sure it can be done, and if once it is done the door will close. I can't risk it being a permanent door," the Spirit replied.   
"Heh, be cool if it was. Hold on, hear me out. Let's go beyond this little power struggle. Look at it this way. Both our worlds have been alone for so long, this would prove to each that life isn't contained to just one planet. And hell, look at how closely our two worlds have evolved. Of course, you can only take my word for it since you haven't seen my world. Beyond that, partnerships can form between companies. I'm sure our worlds would have much to offer each other. However,"   
"However all of this rushing in at once can be intimidating," Yami interrupted.   
"And it could spark an interplanetary war if cards were stacked just right. It's a double edge sword. A risky situation, but the revelations that would come of it. Think about it, Yami. You're real, how many other worlds in fantasy are based on reality? Not just places my world has 'created', but yours as well. It's really exciting, though a lot to take in at once."   
"I'll give you that, it is. My mind is swimming with possibilities. Here's the big question: are our worlds ready for it?"   
"No, but how about this, how _would_ you prepare for something like this? You can't, can you? Who expects it? What is there to give you a notion it will happen?"   
There was a pause and the rustle of clothing as Yami shifted. "You. Once before you said there had to be a reason you were here, it wasn't just chance. What if this is the warning, the hint that something will happen?"   
"Now you're starting to think like me," she grinned. "Something weakened and opened a door to our worlds. What did it is the big question, why is the other. Actually, no, what comes next is the biggest question. Is it good, or is it bad? Is it a two way street or just one? Can I go back is what I mean, if this door is still open that is. This could just be a warning something is happened, who says it has to happen soon though. Could be weeks from now, or years."   
"With a whole new perspective on things, maybe you aren't the key. Maybe the key has been used, you just found the door."   
"How is what I want to know. I don't recall doing anything that would have put me here. Hell, I went to bed in a whole different set of clothing. I couldn't understand why I was fully dressed, jewelry and contacts with me when I awoke in that ally last week. I'm still trying to pass this off as a dream. But it's gone on for far too long."   
"It's an amusing predicament, if you look at it right. We're piecing things together without really finding much of anything. Or maybe we're just fabricating the whole thing and it's something else entirely."   
"Well do you have a scientific explanation for all this?" the woman asked.   
"No, but with magic as a possible player science is almost useless."   
"Exactly, this isn't something that anyone has seen before, so a fantastic explanation might be closer than we know. In any event, I believe Anzu is waiting in the Shop, don't want to keep her waiting any longer than needed, do you?" Sarah asked as she gave the Spirit a playful shove.   
"Hey now," he said before he retreated, allowing Yugi control once more.   
"Go on you, don't let me keep you from seeing your friends."   
"But you're one of them, come on," Yugi chirped before taking her by the hand. 


	8. Chapter 8

To answer the question about rubbing a cat's belly from Dreamy-eyes:   
It's mainly male cats you have to watch on this. It's not that they hate it, but think of it this way; the cat thinks you're flirting with him pretty much. You may end up getting the cat, er, "excited" if you rub too long.   
  
And as for my fast updates, as I said I finished this months ago. Just now getting around to posting ;D   
  
Yu-Gi-Oh! characters and everything related is (c) Kazuki Takahashi   
  


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"I think she likes you," Honda joked.   
"Yeah, what with what your other half coulda done to her, she has to like ya to have been alone," Jounouchi grinned.   
"Oh would you two please hush. It was hard enough not to fidget when I came out of my stupor and found her hanging from my arm," the light haired teen said hurriedly.   
"Hanging from your arm? I thought she was supporting you while you were dizzy," Honda questioned.   
Ryou stopped walking and blinked a few times. "I didn't think of it then, I should have been leaning on her, not the other way around," he made a face then shook his head. "I just want to get home, let's just drop this subject."   
"Ok man, if you say so," Honda held up his hands in a defensive manner.   
"Eh, you think she lied about what happened?" Jou asked Honda quietly.   
"Why would she?"   
"One of two reasons, what we're joking about is true or Bakura did something to her."   
"For her sake, I really hope it's the first one."   
"Me too Honda, me too."   
"Or it could have been that she didn't want to scare Ryou by saying Bakura had been around."   
"Is there something you would like to say to me? I don't feel comfortable with the whispers," Ryou turned soft eyes back to the two.   
"No, nothing," Honda shook his head.   
"Sorry, something else was on my mind," Jou waved.   
"If you don't mind, I think I can handle it from here. Thanks though," Ryou said as he simply walked off.   
"Right, ok, you're welcome..." Jou replied as he and Honda stopped.   
"I think he might have heard. Probably is rude of us to whisper about him like that."   
"He's just a little out of it, he'll be fine," Jou insisted.   
"Head back to the Game shop?"   
"Sounds like a plan to me."   
  
Ryou ducked into his home, it was quiet. His younger sister must be out and his parents were never home at this hour. It felt odd to be alone suddenly, like something wasn't quite right. He felt compelled to head back to the Game Shop, but everyone else was there. He didn't wish to mess with them, not at the moment. But he knew what Sarah told him was a lie, but why? Why would she lie? Had he done something to her? This is mainly what bothered him, the uncertainty in his gut. He sighed and retreated to his room. He'd ask her once he got the chance, whenever that might be. If others picked up on the fact she had lied, they might keep her from seeing him. He enjoyed her company, though. Really was fascinating to speak with someone from, well, _very_ far out of town. He got the gist of what Honda and Jou had been talking about. Was it true? She had been hanging on him after all. He was fond of her, but not that way. She was older, anyway. This shouldn't bother him, yet it did. It scared him to death thinking that his other half might have it in for her, and not knowing what he was fully capable of doing didn't help. Later, he would worry about this later. First came homework.   
  
The remainder of the day sped by, once more there was a sort of study group in Yugi's living room. And as per usual, Sarah felt left out. She busied herself with another drawing, she decided to get bold and sketch Jou and Honda, she moved quickly through each image so as to make sure she'd have them done in time. The two were thrilled and promised to repay her somehow.   
  
After dinner Yugi received a phone call, he took the cordless and waved Sarah to his room to listen as well.   
"He wants to get to the bottom of this and thinks tonight is as good as any time. However, it's a strange request. Either he spends the night here or the both of us go there," Yugi said.   
"Who, I mean, which one?"   
"I'm pretty sure it's Ryou talking, no promises that Bakura won't make an appearance."   
"We go there," Sarah replied.   
"Are you sure? He's home alone for a few days, that might not be the best idea," Yugi warned.   
"Well is convincing your Grandfather to allow him to come here easier? We can always say it's somewhere else we're going."   
"I was hoping you'd say no," Yugi bit his lip.   
"Yugi, I want to know what's going on. Don't you? What about Yami?"   
"But Bakura?"   
"Look, he's more in touch with his Item than you and Yami, we could use him. I fully understand the risk, but I also know if Bakura has interest others might as well. And Bakura won't allow anyone else to have what he wants, we get him involved and he could make a nice distraction for anyone else that causes trouble. If I don't take a risk, we'll never get to the bottom of this. If it turns out to be worthless, then it all ends. We don't do something this continues until we get an answer. Yami and I had an interesting conversation earlier. I may have nothing to do with anything, I was just in the right place at the right time. That something else is going on, bigger. If it is bigger I want to see if I can get home before something happens. If our worlds learn of one another things will be in chaos for a while. It could turn out good or bad, but if there is some doorway we need to learn if it's two way. Then I can go back and maybe, just maybe it'll set everything straight."   
"What... are you talking about?" the teen wrinkled his nose in confusion.   
"An over-active imagination and too much Legacy of Kain games. Just, I can't sit here and do nothing. I have to do something, hunt, dig. Uncover what's going on. You understand what it's like, right? To know with all your heart and soul that something has to be done, you may not know why but it pulls you."   
"I do," he sighed. "Alright, then." He took a moment before pressing the hold button again. "You still there Ryou?"   
"Yes, my that was a long wait," the familiar voice rang through the phone.   
"Yeah, I'm sorry. We've decided, we'll meet you there I guess. The next question is will Bakura take advantage of such an opportunity?"   
"I don't know, I'm pretty sure he's aware of what's going on. He might not like it but perhaps she can talk him into it."   
"We'll see," Yugi said as he turned violet eyes to the woman. "Very well then, we'll meet with you shortly." With that he hung up. "I hope you know what you're doing."   
"You, Yami and Ryou will be there. I'm not worrying."   
"Ryou can do nothing when Bakura seizes control."   
"If expecting it, maybe he can put up a fight and at least be a nagging voice in the back of Bakura's mind. Relax, I understand what I'm doing. It's kind of akin to flirting with death. But it's the only option at the moment, there are persons worse than Bakura."   
"Yeah, I guess. I just wish my other half and I were the ones that were better at this right now."   
"So do I, but I have to take what I can get."   
"I don't know if I should feel insulted or what," Yugi gave a wiry grin as he placed hands on his hips.   
"Just go in acting as if nothing is going to happen. I will declare a tickle war if you can't do it on your own."   
"Buh! No fair, well I bet Ryou will side with me," Yugi stuck his tongue out.   
"And if it's everyone for themselves?"   
"Just get ready, I'll go tell Grandpa," Yugi chuckled.   
  
The door opened to reveal Ryou's frame. He smiled softly and stood aside, letting the two figures enter.   
"I'm assuming since you are in the same clothing as I saw you in earlier I caught you before showering. Would you care to do so now?"   
"If plans are to keep our butts in the house, a shower now is fine," the woman replied.   
"I've no plans to leave, I think just being here would work," Ryou replied.   
"Kay, I think I saw the bathroom. I wanna get the shower out of the way now," she said before making her way to it, belongings in tow.   
  
"Let me ask you something. What are you trying to accomplish here? Is it baiting me?" Bakura asked as Yugi jumped at the sudden change from Ryou.   
"Answers, everyone wants them. And she's going to really start looking for them. She thinks you are the best place to start," the small teen replied.   
"I see, she needs me and I need her. This is supposed to be some form of alliance, then?" he chuckled. "Oh but I don't work that way. I work for my means, not for someone else's."   
"Bakura, she is _willing_, how often does that happen? Just go with it, she's not one to double cross."   
"And how would you know? This thing is a whole new situation and I can't help but feel she knows more than she's letting on."   
"I think she just thinks she knows more. She does have a pretty wild imagination, makes it easier to accept things of the extraordinaire."   
"Yugi, I'm not trying to predict her, only keep the possibility in mind that she's the great manipulator in this. She's, odd," Bakura said with a frown. "Why am I taking the time to tell this to you, anyway? You're only here to insure she's not harmed. Very well, I'll play along for now. I don't see why you were so quick to trust her with all that you've seen. But I won't question your actions, just your motives. Or the Pharaoh's actually."   
"How do you know she's what you think she is? You just said you think there's more to her than she's letting on. What if that's what she wants you to think?"   
"Are you trying to be on the same level as I am little Yugi? Perhaps this conversation has been going on long enough. Let's leave it at this, you have your thoughts and motives and I have mine."   
  
"I'm sorry, I didn't expect him to do anything when she wasn't around," Ryou apologized once he realized what had happened.   
"No, it's ok. I fully understood what might transpire if I came. So far so good, I suppose. He is indeed focused on her."   
Ryou opened his mouth to say something but stopped, he raised a hand to his chest and blinked a few times, a frown touched his soft features.   
"Ryou...?" Yugi questioned as he watched the other teen sit down.   
"Something just happened," he said. "Something... left."   
"What do you mean le-- oh..." Without another word both teens made a dash for the bathroom.   
  
_I felt compelled to draw the curtain back and look out into the bathroom, I don't know why but I did. I tilted my head to see out and immediately clutched the curtain tightly. There, in the room stood Bakura. He was oddly transparent and had an amused look on his face. Ugh, suddenly I regretted having come out here..._   
  
"What the hell do you think you are doing?" the woman hissed as fingers curled tightly about the shower curtain.   
"Did I not say I would catch you off guard?" he chuckled darkly.   
"Pervert," she snapped. "You couldn't have waited just a few minuets later for me to at least be dressed?"   
The spirit shook his head. "Where's the fun in that?"   
"OH! You're impossible. Damnit, hand me a towel at least," she spat.   
The spirit's smile only grew wider as he reached for a towel, his hand passed through without so much as disturbing the fabric.   
"I hate you," she stated simply as she narrowed her eyes.   
"Really now, I could have sworn that by coming here you meant to meet with me. Well here I am, shall we cut to the chase and open the door to your world?"   
"No," she snarled. "Not unless I can get something on."   
"I don't think you're in a position to make demands," Bakura raised a brow.   
"Open the door!" Ryou pleaded from outside.   
"I'd love to, only I'm stuck hiding behind a shower curtain," Sarah replied without taking her eyes off the Tomb Raider.   
"This isn't funny, knock it off Bakura," Yugi demanded.   
"Don't force me to break the door down to get in," Yami stated after resting control from Yugi.   
"I... don't think I locked it. Try the knob if you haven't already," Sarah said.   
Ryou turned it and sure enough it opened, he stepped in with his eyes tightly closed. "Please, leave her be."   
"Why, she's been leading me along for a while now. It's my turn to have a little fun."   
"This is just sick," Yami scowled as he reached for a towel to hand the woman.   
"We do things on my terms, remember?" Bakura sneered in return.   
"I'm not a happy camper," the woman grumbled as she grabbed her change of clothing and stepped past the three. She made sure she wasn't followed before she dropped the towel and dressed in a bedroom. She emerged and threw the towel at the spirit, still having no corporeal form it passed harmlessly through him and landed on the floor. She crossed her arms and just glared at him, Bakura took a moment more to bask in her glare before he returned to Ryou.   
"I've had my fun for now, I'll be nice and let you recover," he chuckled before allowing his host to have total control.   
"I am so sorry," Ryou squeaked.   
"I kinda asked for that, don't be," she sighed as she reclaimed the towel and hung it up.   
"Funny time to ask, but how are sleeping arrangements going to be handled?" Yugi asked, Yami had retreated about the time Bakura did.   
"Oh, well there are rooms open with empty beds. Everyone may claim one if they wish. I'll move to my parents' room and one of you can have mine for the night."   
"I'm not kicking you out of your room. Could I stay in the one I changed in? Looks like you have a sister."   
"I do, and that's fine," Ryou waved.   
"Give it some time then try again, Sarah," Yugi offered. He knew how much the woman wanted to get her answers.   
  
Despite it being a school night, the trio stayed up fairly late. Ryou brought out some videos his father had bought in various countries while he traveled, there were a few English titles. While no one actually watched as it played, the movie was still put in. Yugi had fallen asleep and Ryou helped Sarah carry him into his room.   
"I'm a bit confused by something," Ryou wrinkled his nose in thought.   
"Hrm?" Sarah asked as she looked up from her sketchbook.   
"You're never seen without that, are you?" he chuckled.   
"Well here, no. Back home yes. Been in a slump, haven't been able to draw until now. Was that your question?" the woman raised a brow.   
"No, no it wasn't. I was just wondering why my other side hasn't done a thing since the shower incident. It's odd really, even though we are baiting him and he knows it; why won't he take advantage of it?"   
"He did say he likes to be the one in control, perhaps that's why?"   
"I suppose, but all these chances and he's done nothing?" the teen cocked his head to the side. "Oh, one more thing I've waited on," he seemed to hesitate for a moment more. "Why did you lie to me earlier? I know full well Bakura had been out. I wasn't dizzy or anything." He finished his statement rather quickly, it wasn't hard to see it was an awkward question for him to ask.   
"Why? I didn't want to make you feel bad. I don't blame you for a thing he does, you should know that. Ryou, you're a very kind hearted individual and I know you hate it not knowing what he's doing and what's going on. But I'll be fine, I've done well so far and I'm not worried. I want answers, he can give them to me. And I'll eventually get my answers because most are for questions I'm sure we share."   
"Well I guess that explains it. But still the lie hurt."   
"I know, I'm sorry. I didn't know which would have been better. At the time the lie seemed good, had a perfect set up for it and everything. What with the leaning and all."   
"Yeah, about that..." Ryou trailed off.   
"I did it," Sarah said plainly. "I got a bit bold and totally put my trust in him for a while. And nothing happened."   
"Heh, wow," Ryou said a bit surprised.   
"I don't think he liked it," she laughed. "Took it as me toying with him."   
"And you were," Bakura raised a brow.   
"Ah, there you are. Fine time to come out," the woman smirked.   
"Yes, well, I want to know something. I'm going to be painfully honest with you because I don't quite know _what_ to do with you. Are you aware of what I think of your toying?" he asked.   
"I know you think it's annoying. That I'm just trying to be a bitch."   
"Well you got that last part correct. Let me tell you something, everyone out there hates me. Even my other half isn't fond of me. And then there you are, toying with me and acting as if we're... pals. That my friend, and I use the term loosely, is possibly the cruelest thing you can do to a person. Coming from me, that's a pretty bad statement. If you hate me, that's fine. But do it honestly. The twerps know I'm not fond of any of them and I don't pretend to be either."   
"Look, I admit I am afraid of you but no, I don't hate you."   
"Really now?" he chuckled. "And why's that?"   
"You want what I want, we have our own reasons though. You've not done anything to make me hate you. Be wary of you, yes. Hate, no."   
"Perhaps I could change that," he said with a bit of challenge to his tone.   
"Is it that important that everyone hates you? Just once couldn't you accept there is a person who doesn't? I'm not offering an alliance or anything, no. I know you like to work alone and all an alliance would do is ground you, slow you down. I will help you in the manner because it would benefit the both of us. Though I'm pretty damn sure if you have it your way I won't get what I want," she replied levelly.   
"If you don't hate me, then tell me, how do you feel about me? So help me if that arm linking was an indication, I'll have nothing of it, _whore_." Bakura spat.   
"I do like you, I won't lie about that. But I'm not here to make anything of it, so don't read too much into it. I know you heard what I told Ryou earlier, when I did that I put all my trust in you. Why did you not break it? And don't give me the crap about you doing things on your own time and when you say so. You had the perfect opportunity to lead me blindly into whatever situation you wanted. Yet, you didn't."   
The Spirit of the Ring scowled at the woman and turned away.   
"Don't tell me you yourself don't know why," she raised a brow at this startling development. "You don't, do you?" she repeated after a lack of answer.   
"Since we're being honest, fine. I'll tell you. As much as I want to do it my way and on my time, I can't. I tried to do that before and I'll be damned if I don't need you. And willing at that. I tried using what I had got from you to find where you came from, I couldn't. You want to know why? Remember the first time I took you and showed you all those images? Every single last one of them and more you didn't see lead to parallel worlds. I want your world, and no matter how hard I try to pin-point it; I still need you. Some are so close in design, I can't tell them apart. But you can."   
"Why, then, haven't you tried one of these other worlds to get the information you seek?"   
"Because once there, I still need some point to start from. You could provide that, point me in the right direction. I do not wish to get anyone else involved. This doesn't need to become a huge ordeal."   
"I don't believe what I'm hearing," the woman said in amazement.   
"Don't let it go to your head," Bakura hissed. "I assure you this will be the first, last and only time I ever admit to needing someone."   
"But still, you seem to be putting a lot of trust and faith into _me_."   
"You don't think I know this? And it's driving me mad, though if push comes to shove I'll just have to take the long route and just dive in and search myself. I don't want to, normally I'm a very patient person but not at this moment. No the information I seek has never been closer. It tends to have that sort of effect on a person," he chuckled.   
"I'll tell you want. Tomorrow we go back to the Shadow Realm and work on this. Deal?"   
Bakura scowled, "It's only a deal because I learned there are peek times for viewing, and tomorrow afternoon is best."   
"Very well then, shall I meet you in the same place we met today?"   
"Yes, you will come to me and not the other way around," the Spirit grinned. "But do you really think the Pharaoh will let me do this?"   
"No, I don't. But we're doing it anyway. We'll deal with things as they come," the woman shrugged. "Now shoo, go away so Ryou can get his ass into bed."   
"So demanding," the Spirit snorted.   
"And I can be persuasive," she gave him a devilish look then moved in quickly to plant a kiss on his cheek. The Spirit hissed and relinquished his hold.   
"Wha?" Ryou jumped slightly from the close proximity of the woman.   
"I think I just figured out how to make Bakura go away."   
"How?" Ryou asked, his face etched with confusion.   
"I kissed him," she shrugged.   
"Oh," a pause. "Wait, _what_?" Ryou's eyes about popped out of his skull. "Oh heavens, the arm linking wasn't an innocent gesture," the teen brought a hand to his forehead.   
"Relax, Ryou. I'm actually just trying to make nice with your other half. Ok, yes, and bug the crap out of him because I love to do that. Don't take it the wrong way, though. I'm not after you or him," she shook her head.   
"Ok, yeah. I really don't know what I'm supposed to say so I'm just going to call it a night. School and all," he muttered as he stood and simply walked off. "Good night."   
"Night, sweet dreams and take care," she replied as she got to her feet. The whole thing had taken place with them sitting on the floor in front of the couch.   
  
"Well this is new," Ryou muttered as he closed the door to his parents' room. "I'm so totally confused now," he sighed. The teen turned the lights off and pulled back the covers on the bed, he turned his head to realize he had left the lights on in the other room. A few clicks and the light from under the door vanished, the woman had turned them out for him. He heard her make her way down the hall, a hand on the wall to guide her. A soft click later let him know she had closed the door to his sister's room.   
"She's up to something," Bakura called softly.   
Ryou spun around, barely able to make out the transparent figure in the dark. "You never speak to me, why are you doing it now?" he hissed in a hushed tone.   
"Because for once I am informing you of something that will occur tomorrow. She's taking me home with her," Bakura paused for a moment, a sneer touched his features. "I suddenly hate how I phrased that. And you are coming along, naturally. This is all you need to know," the Spirit said before he vanished.   
"Wait! When is she doing this?" Ryou whispered into the darkness, he failed to get an answer.   
"Tell anyone and I won't hesitate to take out my frustration on your body," the voice snarled dangerously from inside Ryou's own mind.   
Ryou bit his lip and only nodded a reply. What had he gotten himself into? He would remain quiet, though. With luck the woman had some form of plan, he just couldn't see everything coming to an end so soon and... easily.   
  
Sarah was awoken the next morning by Ryou, he apologized but reminded her that if anyone came home while she was asleep, it would be an awkward experience. When the two guys set out for school, she returned to the Game Shop and went right back to bed when Mr. Mutou insisted she did, she could help him later. She pulled herself out of bed again at noon and after getting something to eat, set about dusting higher shelves in the shop.   
  
"Hey, I'm going to meet up with the guys after classes, is that alright?" Sarah asked when she realized what time it was.   
"Hrm? Oh, sure. I suppose that would be fine," Mr. Mutou smiled as he looked up from the paper he was reading.   
"Alright, thanks. Oh and I ran the dishwasher, everything in it is clean now," she said before heading back to the living quarters. She had bought a large canvas bag earlier, and now had everything she had acquired during her stay in it. Thankfully there was another exit, so she wouldn't have to walk past Mr. Mutou, she'd give herself away with such a large load to carry. She had to hurry, hoping she'd get there before Yugi or the others emerged. Bakura had just passed through the gates when she arrived.   
"Well, that answers the 'are you ready' question," the white-haired teen raised a brow. "Now, where did you first arrive here? That is where we'll start."   
"An ally near the Game Shop."   
"Lead the way, my dear," he said after offering an arm.   
She gave him a puzzled look before threading her arm through his. "Oh, so you're playing with me now?"   
"Just making sure you don't change your mind, and that we don't look suspicious."   
"Right then, come on, before the others emerge and find us. Let's get your information."   
  
_My heart was racing, I was finally going home. Well I hope at least, just so long as Bakura needed me I would be fine. Once he didn't need me, well, I didn't want to think about it. I had to loosen my grip on his arm when I realized I was squeezing it. He didn't seem to notice, he just kept walking with me. Ugh, he must think I'm falling for him or something. I don't need him to get that impression. It's not that I'm worried about him returning the feeling, it's that I don't want him to get the wrong impression because of his character. He doesn't strike me a person that would be looking for a life-partner and is bound to get very violent if he thinks I see something in him. If only he could understand it's my fan girl attitude getting the best of me. In my eyes he and everyone else I'd spent these past few days with is a celebrity, and to live among so many at once is very rare. It was starting to get to me, the realization that this was real and I had the perfect chance to meet and make friends with everyone. I guess that's why I'm getting so clingy, testing boundaries and trying to make a lasting impression._   
  
"Here, this is the ally," the woman stopped and pointed.   
"Very well then," Bakura nodded as he lead her deep into it. A quick glance around to make sure they were alone gave him the go ahead to shift realms. The woman stumbled a bit, Bakura helped to steady her. "I'll give you a few images to work off, let me know which ones seem closest to where you came from," he requested after unthreading his arm.   
"What are you going to do once you get what you want? And how much do you think you'll get?" the woman asked as he began to muster the magic for the task at hand.   
"I don't quite know the value of this, but the chance is there and I plan to seize it. It's worth and value can be determined later," he replied simply.   
"Ah, so this is just a leap of faith, then? Hold on, that looks good, stop there," she replied.   
"Yes, a leap of faith. But I will hold you responsible for any shortcomings," he shot a glance over his shoulder. "Give me a moment, I can pick up similarities in this world and others by use of magic. I'll have it narrowed down again in just a bit," he said.   
Sarah watched the shimmering surface of the ring fade into other images rapidly, after a moment Bakura slowed them for her to see.   
"Dude, this is going to be hard. All of these show my hometown, different parts of it but it's my town."   
"Humph, small town," Bakura scowled.   
"Just because it's small doesn't mean you won't get what you want," Sarah shot back as she folded her arms. "But this is going to be tricky, is this all from the same, uh, world or what? Like are you finding more than one door to my home or parallel worlds?"   
"They should be the same, I'm getting the same feeling from each of these. I've seen this image before, only slightly different. Watch," he stated as the surface of the floating ring changed to show a similar image of the previous.   
"Well, that looks like Downtown Round Rock, but I've never seen that building before. Most of them are brick, stone and wood. We don't have metal towers there..."   
"I'll return to the previous set, let me know if anything else works for you."   
  
_I watched him go back, he cycled slowly through images of my hometown. Places such as all three schools I attended showed as well as places I shopped at and hung out near. What came next I wasn't expecting, neither was he. While he didn't live where I did, he caught the change instantly._   
  
"The buildings are vastly different here than before, strange that the houses are also closer with less room."   
"That's not Texas," the woman blinked.   
"Beg your pardon?"   
"That's a place about a thousand odd miles from my home. All that we have seen before were places I frequent, that I know. That," she said as she pointed to the image. "Is near Chicago. My boyfriend's home."   
Bakura laughed then shook his head before shifting back to the previous set of images. "The urge to refer to you solely has 'Whore' now is strong."   
"Just shut up, I already told you I'm not hitting on you," the woman snapped.   
"Focus on the task at hand and I will too. I don't ask about something, you don't tell me about it," he commanded.   
"Stop there," the woman murmured.   
"Why? It looks like a bedroom. This isn't helping your case any."   
"It's my bedroom, damnit. And if we're going anywhere that's the best place to pop up at, no one is there right now."   
"And how can you tell?"   
"We're seeing in from the wall the window is on, see that clock there on the second bed? It reads 1:12pm. It's a school day, no one but me would be home right now. And the room is exactly how I left it that day, my sketchbook laying on the bed. But I thought I went to bed that day," she bit her lip.   
"Don't tell me you're having second thoughts?" Bakura growled as he forcefully grabbed the woman by the arm.   
"No, I'm not," she grumbled as she freed her arm. "I just don't understand something. I remember going to bed that night, how do we know this isn't going back in time some and I'm going to walk in there and meet myself who is downstairs having lunch?"   
"We said we'd deal with things as they happen, now go," Bakura hissed as he shoved the woman forward. 


	9. Chapter 9

This is the second to last chapter, things are starting to wind down now, information will be found, well at least Bakura thinks he's gonna find something; not exactly what he had in mind though.   
  
Yu-Gi-Oh! characters and everything related is (c) Kazuki Takahashi   
  


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_I stumbled into my room, scared half to death that I was going to meet myself in a few moments. Time travel is a tricky thing, would meeting myself cause some cosmic explosion? Would I create a paradox? My mind reeled with so many horrible thoughts I was sure Bakura could hear them as well. He walked in behind me and took note of his surroundings. Probably for future reference. Well, I was home so I set my bag down. Things were left as I remember, including my bed. A corner of the sheet had been turned up too, I was going to fix it but went to eat lunch first. Wait, wait... I don't remember anything after lunch. I remember going to bed, but what happened between lunch and that time is a blur..._   
  
"What's this?" he asked after raising a hand to point at an image on the closet door. It was of him and the Ring. "What is all of this?" he pointed to each item that held images of him or any of the others back in his world. "Looks like an unhealthy obsession to me," he raised a thin brow. "And why are we all... cartoon-like?"   
"Duh, animated series and all. And it's not just you and the others around, have other things too," the woman replied as she opened the door.   
"Where do you think you're going?"   
"To make sure I'm not downstairs too, I'll be back."   
"Yes, you had better. Because if you fail to return, I will stay here and wait for your family. And apparently you share a room with a younger sister..."   
"I _will_ return," the woman said darkly.   
A chuckle, "Good, I'll be waiting."   
  
"God damnit, maybe this was a bad idea. I should have showed him to another part of town and gone from there," the woman muttered to herself as she descended the stairs. The lower floor was quiet, no sign of another person being home. To make sure she went through all the rooms and checked the front door. Nothing, she was alone, well besides Bakura she was alone.   
"Shit! NO!" she hissed suddenly as she made a mad dash back up the stairs.   
"Such a beautiful animal," Bakura cooed as he pet the sleek black cat nuzzling his leg.   
"His name is Spectre," the woman closed the door when another black paw tried to push it open. "And Midnight is the one on the other side."   
"May I see him?" Bakura asked as he stood back up. Spectre meowed and hopped up on a bed, asking to be pet again. The woman had no choice but to open the door and let Bakura view her other cat.   
"You seem so worried," he chuckled as he pet the larger cat. "I would never harm a feline, they held special status in ancient Egypt. And being that you own two of the beautiful creatures I hold you in a slightly higher respect."   
"I don't own them, they own me."   
"An interesting view, but whatever," he shrugged as he gave Midnight one last pat on the head. Spectre was still meowing and craning his neck for attention. "But enough of the pussy footing around," he gave a smile at the pun. "Let's get down to business, show me what I want to know."   
"Let me get these fur balls out of the room," the woman said as she shooed the two away.   
"I did rather enjoy their company," Bakura said with a hint of sadness. Sarah couldn't tell if it was genuine or not though.   
"Now, let me just log on and we'll start."   
"Log on?" Bakura raised a brow. The white haired Spirit watched the woman stride to the desk near where they had entered through the portal. She slid out the large, low-sitting chair before pulling a thin object to the front of the desk.   
"Internet, Tomb Raider," she said as she clicked open the latch and raised the screen on her laptop. With the push of a button the screen flashed and lit up. Bakura moved closer and indicated for her to take the seat, he would only watch over her shoulder.   
"There are only a handful of persons who call me that," he whispered in her ear. He moved back and laughed. "What an interesting image I just saw. Was that myself, Jou, the Pharaoh, Seto and Malik?"   
"Yes, it was. Default wallpaper on start up. That guy is actually what I see most the time," she pointed to the image of a man with stark white skin and hair, he was bare chested with shoulder guards strapped on, one being considerably larger than the other. His lower half was clad in black pants and armored boots. He clutched an interesting sword, the hilt holding a fanged skull with wing like protrusions on either side. The blade was wavy and flowing, a strange design for a sword. His most notable features were his pointed ears and fangs dripping with blood.   
"Ah, I remember seeing him in your thoughts the first time I tried. Raziel was it?"   
"No, Kain. Anyway forget that," she muttered as the dial-up screen popped up and began to automatically dial. "There are many sites to look at, I'll show you the ones with the most information."   
"I had not expected this to be on the internet. I was expecting a material form."   
"Yeah, well that would be in Japan. America is a year or so behind them. All I know about 'future' events comes from the internet. But here's the deal, right now I'm currently on the story arc of Battle City. Where Seto held his tournament in the city itself."   
"Ah yes, I remember that. Hrm, and you say this is behind what is unfolding in Japan?"   
"Yes, I don't know how far but I have enough of an idea of 'future' events," the woman grunted and clicked off an email alert, instead she pulled up IE and went straight to her favorites to hit a certain site. It had the scripts for shows posted, she didn't know how far it went up because she didn't actually read the scripts. "I'll be honest, I don't know how close any of this is to events but there you have it. You can look through things on your own. I trust you can work a computer?"   
"Yes, I'm not a simpleton," the Spirit growled.   
"Well it's all yours," the woman said as she moved from the seat. "I'll be here if you want to move to another site." She hesitated for a moment before turning on the radio. The Spirit gave her a quixotic look but said nothing, he went back to reading.   
"Legacy of Kain soundtrack," she said absently as she turned the machine over to CD and hit play.   
"Hmm, dark. I think I like," Bakura replied as he read.   
  
_There were sites I could show him that had the details from the manga, which was vastly different from the animated series, but I didn't feel like it. Besides, more sites held information on the card game and show. It would have to do. I almost flipped out when I noticed Bakura's attention had been on an instant messenger window. How could I have been so stupid to not turn that off? Bakura had been reading it, but hadn't replied. It was one of my friends from another state, I simply closed the program without saying a word to the other person. Figured Bakura might decide to have fun with them if I didn't make it go away. I was also glad nothing embarrassing had been said while Bakura was reading. Not that my friends IM me out of the blue with stuff I don't want others to see, but mainly inside jokes and conversations that would take a lot of explaining for others to get.   
  
Two hours passed, in that time I heard someone come in downstairs. Had to either be my brother or mom. When I didn't hear the door again, I assumed it was my mom. Jon never stayed home long anyway. Amazingly mom didn't come up, normally she does. But not today. More time passed, absent mindedly I turned the radio off and turned the TV on. This next bit was amusing._   
  
"What the devil?" Bakura spun around when he heard a familiar name. He made a face as he studied the TV screen. "Well, guess I get to see how they handle things, then. The scripts are based on a central truth but still don't go exactly how I remember events," the Spirit paused and raised a brow when he saw himself. "I thought you said things were in the Battle City era, this is back during Duelist Kingdom where I first make my presence on the island known."   
"Rerun, basically. They put new stuff on Saturday and reruns weekdays."   
"I certainly hope I'm not that cocky and... obvious."   
"No, you're not. But in this episode you are aptly dubbed Capitan Obvious."   
"How kind," he grumbled. He tilted his head to the side and looked past the TV, to the bedroom door. "I believe we're about to have company."   
"Fuck," the woman muttered, partially surprised at her choice of words. "Um, just stay seated. I'll handle it," the woman waved as the door opened.   
  
"What?" Mary said when she saw her older sister standing close to the door.   
"Just come in fully and don't say a word," the woman replied as she ushered her sister in.   
"Why?" Mary questioned. "What the fuck!?" she suddenly barked. "That's Bakura!" she said rather loudly, Sarah clamped a hand over her mouth as the Spirit simply laughed.   
"I see my reputation precedes me, again."   
Mary managed to break free and stare openly at the white haired individual in her sister's computer chair. "You're the evil one, aren't you?"   
Bakura nodded with a slight smirk.   
"Crap," Mary said simply. "Um, be right back..." she set her backpack down and removed her jacket before turning around and going back downstairs.   
"What's her name?" Bakura asked after a moment of silence.   
"Mary."   
"And where is she going right now?"   
"Bathroom I think, she always comes up here to put her stuff down and goes to the restroom."   
"For yours and her sake, I hope she doesn't bring anyone else up with her."   
"Yeah, me too..." the woman reached over to turn the TV off before looking back at the Spirit, to see if he wanted it off.   
"Go ahead, it would only be a distraction. I want to continue with this."   
"Have you learned anything?" the woman asked as she leaned over the back of the chair.   
"Some, mainly just details that occurred when I wasn't around. I can't say if there's any truth to these events or not. But I haven't found much of real value."   
"And yet you don't seem mad about it."   
"Why should I be? In the end I know I'll have what I want, this would possibly only help me get it faster. And I do quite enjoy the fact that if anyone else tries what I have they won't turn up much themselves."   
"Funny, I never pegged you as such the optimist."   
"And you say this after only known me for a few days? My dear, there are sides to both of us the other hasn't seen yet."   
"Meh, whatever," she waved as the bedroom door opened again and Mary stepped in holding Spectre, Midnight snuck in as well.   
"Went to pee," Mary said.   
"Thanks for sharing," Sarah sighed.   
"How old are you, Mary?" Bakura asked without taking his eyes of the monitor's soft glow.   
"Fifteen, going on sixteen."   
"Ah, high school age. Not that far behind Ryou's age then."   
"Who...?" Mary asked.   
"Ryou is the other half to Bakura," Sarah answered.   
  
_Oh crap, if Mary mentions something about not knowing the name, and Bakura realizes that the name Ryou was never used in the script and that I know it; he's going to think I'm hiding something from him. Then he might get mad because I don't know of any places that have information on the manga. Wait, no, I can still save my ass. He's reading the English stuff, I can just say they call both him and Ryou Bakura all the time. Cuz, well, they do. So it'll work, hopefully._   
  
"I take it something is lost in the translation?" Bakura inquired.   
"Yes, actually. For some reason they call you and Ryou by the same name, just happens to be Bakura."   
"And the Pharaoh gets called Yami, I see. Joey, Tristan and Téa. I don't quite understand the naming, but whatever works," the Spirit shrugged.   
"So, um, why is he here?" Mary tried to ask Sarah quietly.   
"Looking for information to help back home," Bakura replied. "And I hope you aren't going to get talkative, I have work to do." He shot the blonde a hard look and she backed away, setting the cat down.   
"Mary, just work on your homework or something, no TV though," Sarah commanded. "Unless you want to go downstairs to watch, but not here."   
  
"No way, if she never showed up that can only mean one thing," Jou said. He was shaking, it was uncharacteristic for him. But the overwhelming sense of dread wasn't easily ignored.   
"I never should have let her go," Mr. Mutou sighed.   
"It's ok Grandpa, you didn't know."   
"Yugi, maybe we should get out and do something. She took everything with her, could use it to make a trail if she's in trouble," Anzu offered.   
"Let's do something, I don't like just sitting here," Honda added his voice.   
"Where do we start?" Jou asked.   
"Where else, since she's with Bakura."   
"I hate that place," Jou sighed.   
"Best place to start, though," Anzu shrugged.   
  
"We're about to have company," Bakura said simply as he stood and closed the laptop. "He's rather resourceful, tracking me across worlds like this." The Spirit glance to his ring, the gold was glowing harshly and the tips of the cones stood on end, pointing to where he had originally entered the room from.   
"Who?" Mary asked simply.   
"Yami," Sarah smiled. "You're going to meet Yami Yugi."   
Mary's eyes widened and her legs gave way as she fell to a seated position on her bed. Her mouth worked silently saying his name over and over.   
"Oh he's not _that_ special," Bakura growled at her reaction. The spirit stepped closer to the second bed as the wall and curtain where he had just been sitting wavered and rippled. Cautiously a hand emerged, it looked to be feeling around. Annoyed with the slow progress, Bakura sighed and grabbed it before yanking it and it's owner clear through. Yami stumbled into the room, attached to his other arm was the chain of Jou, Honda and Anzu.   
  
Yami took a moment to take in his surroundings before laying eyes on Sarah. Relief showed on his face and as soon as the others passed the shock, there was much shoving for Yami to move. He had the other three blocked in, with the desk and chair to his left and a dresser to the right there was no space for the other teens to move in.   
"Interesting, is it not?" Bakura chuckled as he pointed to the desk, more importantly three six inch figures that stood in front of the stereo. "She's got a toy of you, your damned Magician and the mutt."   
"I didn't know you called Joey that, I thought Kaiba did," Mary wrinkled her nose.   
"I can call him whatever I please," the Spirit replied gruffly.   
"Are we where I think we are?" Yami asked as his eyes once again scanned his surroundings.   
"Heh, welcome to our room," Sarah said with a hand jerk to her sister and herself. "That's Mary, the younger sibling I mentioned."   
"Are you alright, did he hurt you?" Anzu blurted out.   
"I'm fine, really," Sarah shrugged. "No harm done."   
"And nothing learned," Bakura added on a sour note. "It was a waste of time," he emphasized with a quick wave.   
Jou tugged on Yami's sleeve and asked something, the Spirit turned back to the center of the room. "Look, I'm not quite sure what to think of all of this, but I agree with Jounouchi, if Sarah's back where she belongs we should return as well."   
"And how do we do that, try to go back through that wall and you'll find nothing," Bakura smirked.   
"Well, to get here we had to go through the Shadow Realm," Anzu started before she paused and furrowed her brow. "But, why didn't we emerge in the Shadow Realm, then?"   
"Perhaps that's where the initial door is, pass the threshold and be deposited in your destination outside the Shadow Realm," Bakura shrugged. He stood in thought for a moment before clamping a hand on the woman's shoulder. "Really now, you shouldn't stand so close to me when I'm unpredictable." Without another word, the two simply faded away.   
  
Honda shouted something before Yami turned to the slack-jawed sister of Sarah's.   
"Anzu, you and the others stay here with her. I'll be back with Sarah," he promised before he pulled himself into the Shadow Realm.   
  
"I-I don't understand, why are all these doors here?" Sarah asked, her voice rang out with a tinge of pain and overwhelming fear. Bakura studied each door intently as Yami materialized. He shook his head and blinked to make sure he wasn't seeing things.   
"It's amazing, isn't it Pharaoh? Her mind is doing all of this," he waved to the doors.   
"Where do they lead?" Yami indirectly asked the woman.   
"NO! Stay away from there," she whimpered as Bakura neared one of the portals. He raised a brow and gave her a look of genuine confusion. "Nosgoth," she croaked, "It's Nosgoth. You don't want to go there." Tears were beginning to well in her eyes and she massaged her temple methodically with her fingers.   
"What's wrong?" Yami asked in a soft tone as he took the woman by the shoulders.   
"A pull, from each place. They're all trying to claim me, drag me in. It hurts," she said through gritted teeth. "And, and I hear," she stopped to swallow hard.   
"You hear what?" Yami prompted. His eyes darted to the side to see Bakura approach, the other Spirit showing some concern for the strange reaction the woman was having.   
"Voices," she whispered hoarsely. "Voices from these places, so many all at once. So many feelings of so many kinds. It's all coming too fast, I can't handle it. I feel sick, weak. I'm, I'm being pulled in too many directions, they all want me," she whimpered, tears flowing freely. "Get me out of here!" she wailed. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head and Yami braced himself to carry her weight.   
"I don't like this," Bakura hissed as he violently threw an arm at the row of portals. "What are they, why are they here?"   
"Talk later," Yami hissed as he gathered his magic to transport himself and the woman back to her room.   
  
_So much hit me all at once, so many places that I knew. Places from books, TV shows and movies. Anything that made some impact on me was represented in those doors. So many of them in rows, all showing the worlds that lay beyond. Why. Why were they in my room? What caused it, what placed them there? Could anything come through them and into my world or into one of the other worlds represented there? Why was I just now learning about this? Had they been there forever? My mind reeled with possibilities, the thoughts never stopped even though I was aware of the fact my body wasn't responding to me. Yami and Bakura took me back home, I heard the voices of the others and my sister saying we needed to get my mom, the others insisted to wait for a bit. I was placed on my bed, I felt others sit around me and nudge me from all sides, trying to rouse my dormant figure. I could still hear the whispers from the other worlds, though they were fading now as was the pain that plagued me. Eventually my eyes obeyed me and fluttered open. Much to my surprise I found both the spirits to either side of my head, confusion and... worry didn't look right for Bakura._   
  
"What happened back there?" a soft question from Bakura broke the silence. The tone was foreign to him, he immediately felt wrong for even using it. Perhaps a bit of Ryou had come through in that moment.   
"The places you saw, each one beckoned me. They tugged on me, pulling energy and strength from my being. That's all I know," she said in a voice so hoarse she couldn't believe it had been her that spoke.   
"Why would they do that?" the Spirit of the Ring turned to Yami.   
"I don't know," the Pharaoh narrowed his eyes. "I'm going back, to study them," he stated before his form melted away.   
"You're not going alone," Bakura snarled before he did the same.   
"They shouldn't have gone," Sarah croaked as she pulled herself to a seated position and wiped damp eyes. "We don't know if anything can come out of those door."   
"Doors, what doors?" Anzu asked. "I'll translate for Jou and Honda as you go."   
  
"What do you feel?" Bakura asked as Yami joined him.   
"In here, nothing. When I get close enough to a portal I feel a slight pull. I don't think this is the Shadow Realm, similar maybe but not the same. Magic doesn't have the same effect on this world as it does ours."   
"Then what is it?" Bakura demanded, almost as if he expected some other being to answer.   
"Do you believe in miracles?" Yami asked suddenly.   
"Everything has a cause, someone somewhere does something. Miracles are nothing more than some unseen power's handiwork."   
"That's pretty much what I was getting at. Look, bare with me a moment. I'm going to go out on a limb here and I don't know if you'll follow or not."   
"Try me," Bakura stated as he crossed his arms.   
"A person's mind can be a powerful thing, if channeled properly. One mind alone is just that, one mind. But if you get more minds working together things that couldn't happen alone spring up. What if since so many other minds know the same thing, specifically about our world, that somehow their combined effort makes a bridge between the gap?"   
"Are you getting at what I think you are, that all these persons made a bridge to us?"   
"And they are totally oblivious to the fact as well," Yami nodded.   
"But how, if none of them know one another? And what about the other places we saw?"   
"More minds combined for those, it's said that if you believe in something long and hard enough it can come true. Maybe that's what's happened here, some sort of supernatural force is tuned to the thoughts of these people. It doesn't have to be just here that this happens, it could be in our world and each of the worlds we see here," Yami motioned to the portals.   
"A web across space, worlds actually making contact without realizing it," Bakura mused.   
"The one thing I don't understand is why aren't we going through the same thing Sarah did."   
"Maybe we're detached enough so it won't effect us? We should bring someone else in to test that theory. I vote Anzu comes," Bakura smirked.   
Yami glared hard at him. "I don't want her or any of them here."   
"You aren't willing to test the thesis? Sarah is fine, should anything happen to the others you can just remove them," Bakura waved before his form vanished. Yami scowled and simply remained where he was, a moment later the Spirit of the Ring returned with a wildly protesting Anzu.   
  
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" the teen hissed as she stalked away from him. She made it three feet away before she stopped dead in her tracks and slowly turned to take in the surreal quality of her surroundings. "These, these are the portals?" she asked in awe.   
"And she's unaffected. You worried over nothing," Bakura snorted.   
"What's here that would affect me?" Anzu asked as nervousness began to wash over her.   
"I don't know, but it seems to only have effected Sarah," Yami answered as he watched Bakura stick a hand through a portal. "She warned you about that one," Yami reminded him.   
Bakura scowled at the Pharaoh and closed his eyes. A moment later they shot back open and he violently removed his hand. "Soul Stealer," he hissed as he stepped away from the portal. "And in there too," he pointed to another."   
"Brilliant move there," Yami raised an elegant brow.   
"From what I gathered," Bakura ignored the other Spirit, "these portals only work one way unless you know how to get back through."   
"So, we're stuck away from home?" Anzu dared to ask.   
"No," Bakura said simply. "She was a key after all," he said more or less to the Pharaoh. "But she isn't the only one."   
"Key, who?"   
"Sarah," Yami replied. "We should return now, get away from this place. It's starting to leave an empty and hollow feeling inside me. I don't like it."   
"Agreed," Bakura nodded simply before he vanished.   
"Don't leave me!" Anzu blurted as she turned and dashed towards the other spirit.   
"Why would I?" he gave her a puzzled look before transporting the two back to the room.   
  
"It makes it annoying when I can't talk to them," Mary whined at the lack of understanding between her and Honda and Jounouchi.   
"You just need a translator, that's all," Anzu said as soon as she, Yami and Bakura were back.   
"Any change?" Yami asked the seated woman.   
"Better now, and for the record I _never_ want to go back in there again," Sarah replied. Yami bit his lip and turned away, it took Sarah a moment to realize what he meant. "Oh no, no way!" she protested.   
"Well would you rather we all stay here?" Bakura snapped.   
"How do I get back home?" she demanded.   
"I suppose you come with us, then once there you pass back through to here," Yami thought aloud.   
"Could I come...?" Mary asked quickly.   
"No," Sarah answered. "I won't allow it."   
"But I want to see what it looks like!" Mary protested.   
"I said no," Sarah snapped. "Come on, let's get you folks home. The sooner I do this, the sooner I can get away from that surreal shit in that other realm."   
"One question before we go, didn't you put a hand through one of the doors, Bakura? Do we really need Sarah?"   
"Yes, I got a hand through but met something on the other side. Think of it as a partially opened door with a chain lock, I couldn't remove that last lock. We need her," the Spirit answered. 


	10. Chapter 10

And here it is, the final chapter. All is right in the world now ;;   
  
Yu-Gi-Oh! characters and everything related is (c) Kazuki Takahashi   
  


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No sooner had the group been transported to the other realm did the woman stumble and clutch her head.   
"I want to hurt you so bad right now," she hissed at Bakura.   
"Heh, I suppose being able to understand one another again isn't as neat here as it was back home," Jou said as he gave the woman a shoulder to lean on.   
"Which door is it?" the woman groaned.   
"Well this is a pickle," Bakura mused.   
"Indeed, we really should have examined these doors beforehand," Yami murmured.   
"What is it?" Sarah croaked as Jou lead her to where the others stood. "Oh now this sucks," she snapped.   
"And not the good kind either," Bakura chuckled. He got a pained glare from the woman.   
"Whoa, why am I seeing four doors leading to the same place outside the Game Shop?" Honda questioned.   
"And they're not all the same, look. There's boxes sitting in that one, nothing in the middle and a car is parked in the one next to it and the last has a mob of kids at the door. Where do we go...?" Jou sputtered.   
"Why four?" Bakura wheeled around and yanked the woman away from Jou. "And why do I get the feeling you know what this is all about?"   
The woman whimpered and collapsed against him, clutching his shirt tightly.   
"Bakura, knock it off! She can't take it," Anzu said as she thwaped the Spirit on the back.   
"No, I will not knock it off. She lead me through to this place and even showed me what I wanted to see. But I didn't learn anything, and now when we try to go home I see four doors that lead to where we want to go. There's something she didn't tell me and I know it," he hissed before shaking the woman that clung to him.   
"OK!" she snapped. "I didn't tell you everything. Technically there are several versions of your story in my world. The original is the graphic novel, the animated series is a companion with slight differences. The English version of the animation is different as well. Three versions, three doors. But I don't know what the fourth is," the woman grunted. She glared long and hard into the snowy-haired teen's eyes.   
He returned the notion without so much as a flinch. "Which door?" he said smoothly.   
"Just pick one, come on. She's being hurt," Jou said anxiously as he randomly chose a door. He tried to walk through but met with resistance.   
"Don't, don't," Sarah gasped. "There's got to be a way to see. You don't want to meet yourselves, something could happen." She pulled away from Bakura and stumbled before leaning on Honda. "I'm just making everyone hold me up, aren't I?" she said with a half-laugh half-groan.   
"I don't mind, you don't look so good," the brunette said as he placed one of her arms over his shoulder. Being that she was so short, he was forced to stoop.   
"Bet I feel worse," she hissed. "It hurts, please. Get me out of here," she turned pleading eyes to Yami.   
"Take her back, Bakura," Yami demanded.   
"Why should I? You should take her and I'll stay here."   
"Just do it, leave the others with me," the Pharaoh repeated. Bakura snarled but did as was asked.   
  
"I'm not sitting here with you, Ryou will," Bakura snapped as the woman fell to her bed. Mary simply stared opened mouthed, not knowing what to do. Out of the corner of her eye she caught Bakura's features melt into softer ones.   
"Oh, oh god!" Ryou gasped as he placed trembling hands on the face down woman's back. "What, where?" he said as he looked around, eyes threatening to produce tears.   
"My room," the woman croaked as she propped herself up on shaking elbows. "The others are working on finding a way home, the Shadow Realm here is too harsh for me. That's why we're here," she mumbled.   
"Are you ok, did you get hurt?" he placed a cool hand on her forehead.   
"I'll be ok, don't worry," she managed an awkward smiled.   
"Look, I'm sorry for everything," Ryou said softly. He had totally forgotten the other presence in the room.   
"Ryou, I already told you I don't blame you for a thing that happened. And I don't blame you for anything now, this was something unrelated. As for why Yami demanded you bring me back I don't know."   
"What happened?" he ventured forth.   
"There was more than one door leading back to your world."   
"Oh my," he blinked.   
"Yeah, the others are trying to figure out which door it is. I have to open it for you so I'll come along. Once I get you home someone will take me to the Shadow Realm there and allow me to pass back unaccompanied. Then this will all be over."   
"Will we ever see you again?" Ryou asked, a tinge of sorrow present.   
"I don't know, Ryou. I'd like to see everyone again, but I don't know."   
"Maybe next time we could spend a bit more time together without the worry of Bakura."   
"Sounds like a plan to me," Sarah smiled as she stood. The woman hesitated a moment before throwing her arms around the snowy haired teen. "It's been a blast, thanks for being so nice to me," she said with a smile when the teen returned the hug.   
"I want a hug too!" Mary blurted out suddenly. Sarah couldn't help but laugh at the way her younger sister was standing. The blonde had her hips slanted and arms folded across her chest. "I want one from Yami too, not Yugi but Yami."   
"I suppose it wouldn't hurt," Ryou laughed as he offered the even shorter teen a hug. Mary gleefully returned the motion.   
"This is so cool! And no one will believe me," she huffed once Ryou let her go. "Ooo, come'er," she motioned to her sister.   
  
_The little brat dared me to do something. She said she wanted to see if I really would. You know, I'm a shy person but at the chance of never seeing any of them again I thought why not?_   
  
Ryou never saw it coming. He wasn't quite sure what to do when the older woman drew him back into an embrace before giving him a kiss full on the mouth. Mary burst into laughter on the other side of the room.   
"Oh my god, she did it!"   
  
_He... returned it? Dude I wasn't expecting this. I broke it off and stepped back, an embarrassed smile on my face. Oh, no wonder. That wasn't Ryou. Bakura stood in his place. I thought there was a sudden change in posture just before the return..._   
  
"Such a tease, you know," Bakura raised a brow.   
"She dared me to!" the woman said defensively as she pointed back to her sister.   
"And if you were dared to jump off a bridge?"   
"Well it's different you know, when your life is at stake."   
"And it wasn't now?" He had a dangerous look in his eyes.   
"I'm sorry, ok!" she held her hands up in a pleading sign of surrender. She gave him a sudden glare, he knew all too well what it had been for.   
"I like to toy with persons, remember?" he smirked.   
"Dork," she snorted.   
"Tramp."   
"Parasite."   
"Mortal."   
"Dredge."   
"Whore."   
"Hey now!" Yami said as he and the other three emerged from the Shadow Realm. "That was uncalled for."   
"If you had of been here a minute earlier it wouldn't have been," Bakura growled. "Well?" he asked.   
"I think we've found the door. I couldn't sense the Millennium Items as strongly through it. I'm assuming that means because two were missing, yours and mine."   
"Excellent, let's be on our way, shall we?" he asked as he took the woman by the arm.   
"Wait! I wanna get to say good bye to everyone," Mary said as she approached the group. "Even though I didn't get to really talk to anyone. I'm a big fan and all, I want a hug from everyone," she said simply. Anzu relayed what the teen had said to Honda and Jou, Jou gave a shrug and a slight smile before stooping down to hug the younger teen. Honda was a bit more reluctant but followed suit.   
"Your sister was great company," Yami said as he hugged Mary. "You're lucky to have her."   
"Can we go now? This is starting to look like some sappy Sunday afternoon movie," Bakura hissed as Anzu gave the other girl a hug.   
"It's called being polite, maybe you should try it sometime," Anzu snapped in return.   
"Being polite doesn't get things done," Bakura said simply as he jerked himself and the woman to the Shadow Realm.   
"In a way I wish we could leave him and be done with him. But that would mean plaguing this world with him," Yami grumbled as he gathered the magic needed to take the remaining persons to the Shadow Realm.   
  
Sarah slammed another balled fist into the Spirit's chest. "You should have waited for them to go first. Less time I spend here the better," she snarled as the pain and voices returned yet again.   
"As much as I'd enjoy watching her wail on him, I think we should just get on with it," Honda said.   
"Which one?" the woman muttered as she turned from Bakura.   
"Second from the right," Jou nodded.   
"Well, let's figure this out." The woman stumbled to the door and put a hand in. She met the same resistance the others had felt. With a grunt she brought the other hand up, once it passed the initial threshold the whole portal seemed to come alive. It rippled violently before going still as glass. The pain and voices from the other portals suddenly stopped and the woman let out a small sigh. Experimentally, she removed both hands from the portal. As soon as she did it went back to being inactive and she was hit once again with streams of stimulation from other worlds. She cursed under her breath and put her hands back through.   
  
"Someone try to stick their hand in now," she commanded without moving. Anzu hesitated for a moment before volunteering. It was an awkward situation, the teen had to duck and kneel between the standing woman and the portal. Slowly she put her hand through, it went in further than any other try.   
"I think it worked," she said as she removed her arm from the portal and stood back up.   
"I'll go first, see if it's ok," Jou offered as he stooped to get under the shorter woman's arms. The teen paused for only a moment before more or less letting himself fall through the shimmering surface. A brief moment later his head re-emerged. "Looks good to me," he said happily.   
"Ladies first," Yami motioned for Anzu to follow. Honda came next followed by Bakura and Yami. Once everyone else had gone through Sarah exhaled before walking through herself.   
  
"Oh am I ever thankful to be here," Sarah said happily once she had emerged on the other side. As if everyone had unknowingly agreed on it, the group was shifted to the Shadow Realm almost instantly.   
"Try supporting monsters in here during a duel. You'll change your mind real quick," Bakura said simply. "I know you duel, I saw a deck," he added.   
"Almost home," Honda said happily. "But first," he turned to the shorter woman. "It was nice meeting you, I know Jou and I weren't real friendly at first but you turned out ok. Take care when you head back, you hear? I look forward to seeing you again sometime, maybe we can all go do something in your world." He gave her a smile and returned the unexpected hug that followed.   
"Don't get me wrong, I'm not a real hug-type but you guys have been so good to me," she said as she released the teen.   
"Yeah, well it's all part of helping a friend, you know?" Jou said as he got a hug next.   
"Thanks for seeing me as one," Sarah replied. "Anzu, I feel so bad about not repaying you for everything you did for me that first night," she said with a hint of guilt.   
"Don't be, just glad I could be of help. Not every day you get a chance to meet someone from another world, now is it?" she laughed as the two girls exchanged hugs.   
"No, it's not. This'll certainly be something to remember for everyone, right Yami?" the woman asked as she prompted the Spirit of the Puzzle for the hug he owed her.   
"One of a kind adventure, and certainly far less stressful than most others," he chuckled. "Now then, I'll get these guys back to safety and be back to help you home," Yami added as he stepped away to join the group.   
  
"OH! One more thing, since I probably won't be around for them I want to wish everyone a happy birthday and happy holidays for whenever you have them," Sarah beamed.   
"And the sentiments are returned," Yami nodded as others exchanged their early holiday wishes.   
"Take care folks, stay safe and have fun," Sarah waved as Yami and the group vanished. "Aren't you sick of me yet?" she questioned as she turned to face Bakura.   
"I'm sick of the mushy crap," he made a face of disgust.   
"Yeah well that's almost over with."   
"Indeed," Bakura replied as he looked past her to where Yami and Yugi appeared.   
"Hey, I get a hug too now!" Yugi chirped happily as he trotted up to the woman.   
"Wouldn't leave without it," the woman laughed as she stooped to give the smaller teen a hug. "Tell your grandfather I said thank you for everything he's done for me. Sheltering me, feeding me and all that good stuff."   
"Will do," Yugi nodded enthusiastically. A tinge of sorrow hit his soft features for a moment. "You take care too now," he said. "And I wouldn't call this a goodbye, more like a see you later. I don't know, something tells me we can see each other again some day."   
"Optimistic one," Sarah giggled as she ruffled the teen's hair. She gave him a kiss on the cheek before rising to her feet and doing the same to Yami.   
"Don't I get one?" Bakura chided.   
"Already got one," the woman muttered as she gave him another glare.   
"Huh?" Yugi screwed his nose up in question.   
"Never mind," Sarah shook her head. "Let's get this over with shall we? I don't want to keep you tied up any longer than needed." She shot a quick glance to Bakura when she caught sight of a small grin. "No smart remarks." The Spirit gave her a mock look of innocence. "Such a dirty mind you have," she muttered quietly enough for all to miss.   
"You are just as bad and you know it," he snapped back.   
  
The same ritual as before was performed, this time Yami cycled through the portals using his magic. The familiar bedroom came into view with Mary staring at the wall everyone had used as the door. When she moved away Sarah cautiously made her way back. The teen jumped when her sister emerged.   
"They get home safely?" Mary questioned.   
"Yeah, everything's the way it should be," Sarah replied. She turned around and waved absently at the wall before the ripple effect faded and left it still.   
  
"You can stop waving now, I doubt she even saw you," Bakura grumbled when Yugi failed to quit once the image of the room had faded.   
"Why'd you stick around to see her off?" Yami raised a brow. Bakura only shrugged before he pulled himself out of the Shadow Realm.   
"You don't think he did anything, do you?" Yugi asked just before he and Yami merged back into one.   
"I don't know, but I don't think so. I didn't feel anything unusual," Yami replied inwardly.   
  
"Bah, I think he went through my deck," Sarah grumbled as she caught sight of a face down card on the desk. She gave a slight frown when she picked it up. The back was different, it lacked the Yu-Gi-Oh logo she was so used to seeing. She flipped the card over and did a double take. What she held in her hand was printed in Japanese. The Change of Heart card she determined from the image. And there scribbled across the middle in sloppy hand writing was the phrase:   
_Be seeing you, Seraph._   
  
"He misspelled my name," Sarah whispered as she set the card back down.   
"What?" Mary questioned when she heard the mumble.   
"Hmm? Oh, nothing," Sarah waved as she glanced back at the card.   
"So, um, how was your day?" Mary dared to ask.   
"Much more than a single day," Sarah chuckled.   
  
_I don't care if she believed me or not. Hell, I could have made up a whole other story to tell her and she might have bought it. After all, what had been impossible before today had just happened. But no, I told her what had happened. It wasn't until I looked back on the events did I realize my interest had shifted from Yugi and Yami as my favorite characters to Ryou and Bakura. And beyond that to how Bakura's actions had seemed to change as time progressed. I wonder what had been going through everyone's minds during my stay there. I wondered if they felt it was a dream or not. I still can't help but think that's what it was. Well, until I pull out one of the many reminders I have. Mom didn't question the sudden addition of new garments to the laundry, she assumed a friend had given them to me. I've got the bathroom articles sitting in the shower caddy. Can't make up my mind if I want to use them or not. But most of all, I've got that card and the question that's been on my mind since I found it. Why? I hope I can find out the answer to this, and at the same time it's got me scared to death. Did I unknowingly forge something with Bakura, something I would soon regret? Well it's been about a month since my adventure, I haven't seen a sign of him around. I'll know though, since I'm needed to open the door back up. Unless he finds someone else to do it. But I don't think he will, not unless I've outlasted my usefulness. But until then, I'll have that card and question on mind._   
  


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You actually made to the end! So, how dull was it? Predictable? ;D   
  
I think you can see what I meant in the beginning about that Mary Sue stuff. But hey, I started it all and it was just shrugged off by the chars so I think I got around the problem there...   
  
I have another fic, just as long as this if not longer. Just a warning to anyone bored with this ;D 


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